USE THE SURRENDER TACTIC: TRANSFORM

WEAKNESS INTO POWER

J

^{U DG M E N T}

Whenyou^areweaker, ^never

fight for

^honor’:

^sake;

^choose

surrender instead. Surrender

gives

you ^{time to recover;}

timeto tormentand irritate your conqueror, time^towait

for

^his

power

^towane.Donot

give

^{him the}

satisfaction of fighting

^and

defeating you——surrenderfirst. By turning

the other cheek you

infuriate

and unsettle him. Make surrenderatool

of power.

153

‘lI‘1I".l‘|lI 'NI'Vl'| \7\l)

|‘I[la|'|(.'|‘l(|'l

Amanwhohad climbed_upon(Icertain

fig^tree,was[muting thebanghs^towardhim

andplmrking^theripe fruit,^whichhethen put^{mmhis mouthto} (ie.rIrr>y^andgnaw with hishard teeth. The vlzertnut.seeingthis‘.

l().l’Se(lin’longbt‘(ltu.'ht’.\' and withttnnultuotts VILYIIL’ excluintell: "Oh Fig!How much less

protected by^zmtureyou arethan I. Seehow_my

mien!offspring^areset

inClosearray,’/irst clorhzrrlinsoftwrap- pers^overwhichis the hardbutsoftly^lined

Itusk.Amlnot mntenl with this muchcare, naturehasalsogiven

ustheseslmrp^and close-re!_Sptne.s‘,^sothat the hunt!ofman

rrammthurtus.

"

Thentlmfig^treebegan

10laugh.^andafter^the laug/tier^itmitt: "You know well thatmanis 0f.rm,h ingmttity^that

he will berenveeven youof^{yourchildren.}

But in your^easehewill doitby^metmsof^rods

and stones;and when they^arefellc-tl^{he will} trample^themWtfllhis feet^{orhitthem With}

.\fI)Il(‘,.\‘,^sothat your

of)‘;-prizzgwill emerge from^theirarmor crushed andniaimed.‘

whileIamlutlched carefully by^hishands,

and_never,like you, withr0llgltflt’.XS.^"

LLONARDQ DAVINCI.

14324519

164 LAW 22

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

The island ofMelos is

strategically

^{situated in} the heart of the Mediter-

ranean.In classicaltimes,^the

city

of Athens dominated the seaandcoastal

areas around Greece, ^but

Sparta,

^{in the}

Peloponnese,

had been Mel0s’s

original

^colonizer.

During

^the

Peloponnesian ^{War, then,}

^{the Melians re-}

fusedto

ally

themselves with Athens and remained

loyal

^toMother

Sparta.

In 416B.C.theAthenianssentan

expedition against

Melos, Before launch-

ing

^anall—out

attack, however, they dispatched

^a

delegation

^to

persuade

^the

Melianstosurrender and becomean

ally

rather thansuffer devastation and defeat.

“Youknowaswellaswedo,”^the

delegates ^said,

^“thatthe standard of

justice depends

^{on the}

equality

^{ofpower to}

compel,

^{and that in fact the} strong^dowhat

they

have the power^{todo and the}weakaccept^what

they

have to

accept.”

^{When the Melians}

responded

^thatthis denied thenotion offair

play,

the Athenians said thatthosein power^determinedwhatwas

fair and whatwasnot.The Melians

argued

^{that this}

authority belonged

^to

the

gods,

^{not to} mortals, “Our

opinion

^ofthe

gods

^{and our}

knowledge

^of

men,”

replied

^amemberof the Athenian

delegation,

^{“leadus toconclude}

thatitisa

general

^andnecessary^{law ofnature to}rule whateverone can.”

The Melians wouldnot

budge. Sparta, they ^insisted,

^{would come to}

their defense.TheAthenians countered that the

Spartans

^{were aconserva-}

tive,

practical people,

^{and wouldnot}

help

Melos because

they

^had

nothing

to

gain

^{andalottolose}

by doing

^so.

Finally

the Melians

began

^totalk of honor andthe

principle

^of

resisting

brute force. “Donotbe ledastray

by

^{afalsesenseof}

honor,”

said the Athe- nians.“Honoroften

brings

^{mentoruinwhen}

they

^{arefaced withanobvi-}

ous

danger

that somehowaffects their

pride.

^Thereis

nothing disgraceful

ⁱⁿ

giving

way^tothe

greatest city

ⁱⁿHellas when sheis

offering

you^suchrea- sonableterms.” Thedebate ended. The Melians discussedthe issue among

themselves,

and decided to trustintheaid of the

Spartans,

^{thewill ofthe}

gods,

^{and the}

tightness

^{oftheircause.}

They politely

declined the Athenians’

offer.

A few

days

^later the Athenians invaded Melos. The Melians

fought nobly,

^evenwithout the

Spartans,

^{whodidnotcometotheirrescue.Ittook}

several

attempts

^{before the Athenians} could surround and

besiege

^their

main

city,

but the Melians

finally

surrendered. The Athenianswasted no

tirne—they put

^todeath all themenof

military

age^that

they

^couldcapture,

they

^{sold the women} and children as

slaves,

^and

they re.-populated

^theis

land with theirowncolonists.

Only

^ahandful of Melians survived.

Interpretation

The Athenianswere oneof themost

eminently practical people

ⁱⁿ

history,

and

they

^{made themost}

practical argument they

^couldwith the Melians:

When you ^are

weaker,

^thereis

nothing

^{to be}

gained by fighting

^auseless

fight.

^{Noone comes to}

help

^the

weak—by doing

^so

they

^would

only

put themselves in

jeopardy.

^{The weak are alone and must submit.}

Fighting

gives

you

nothing

^to

gain

^but

martyrdom,

^{and in}the process^alotof

people

who do^notbelieveinyour^causewill die.

Weaknessisno sin, and^{can evenbecomea}

strength

^ifyou learn how to

play

^it

right.

Had the Melians surrenderedinthe first

place, they

^would

have been able to

sabotage

the Athenians in subtle _ways, or

might

^have

gotten

^what

they

^{could have outof the} alliance and then leftitwhen the Athenians themselveswere

weakened,

^{as in fact}

happened

several years later. Fortunes

change

^andthe

mighty

^areoften

brought

down. Surrender conceals greatpower:

Lulling

the enemy into

complacency,

^it

gives

you timetorecoup,^timeto

undermine,

^timeforrevenge. Never sacrifice that time in

exchange

^{forhonorinabattlethat}you^cannotwin.

Weak

people

^nevergiveway when

they ought

^to.

Cardinal tleR212, 16] 3-16 79

OBSERVANCEOF THE LAW

Sometimeinthe 19205the GermanwriterBertolt Brechtbecame^aconvert tothecauseofCommunism. Fromthenonhis

plays,

essays, and poems^re- flected his

revolutionary fervor,

^{and he}

generally

^{triedtomake his}

ideolog-

ical statements as clear as

possible.

When Hitler came to power ⁱⁿ

Germany,

Brecht and his Communist

colleagues

became markedmen. He hadmany friends^intheUnitedStates—Amerlcans who

sympathized

^with

his

beliefs,

^{aswell as}fellow German intellectuals who had lied Hitler. In

1941, accordingly,

^Brecht

emigrated

^totheUnited

^States,

^{and choseto set-}

tleinLos

Angeles,

^{where he}

hoped

^tomakea

living

^{inthefilmbusiness.}

Over thenextfewyears Brecht^wrote

screenplays

^witha

pointedly

^an—

ticapitalist

^{slant. He had little success in}

Hollywood,

^{so in 1947, the war}

having ended,

^{he decidedto returnto}

Europe.

^Thatsame year,

however,

the US.

Cong;ress’s

^House Un—American Activities Committee

began

^its

investigation

^into

supposed

Communist infiltrationin

Hollywood.

^It

began

to

gather

information on

Brecht,

^{who hadso}

openly espoused Marxism,

andon

September

^19,

^1947, only

^amonth beforehe had

planned

^toleave

the United

States,

he received^a

subpoena

^toappear beforethe committee.

Inadditionto

Brecht,

^{anumberofother}writers,

producers,

and directors

weresummonedtoappear^as

well,

^and_{this group}^{cametobeknownasthe}

Hollywood

^19.

Before

going

^to

Washington,

^the

Hollywood

^{19met todecideon a}

plan

ofaction.Their

approach

would be confrontational. Insteadof

answering questions

about their

membership,

^{orlack ofit,in} the Communist

Party, they

^{would read}

prepared

^{statementsthatwould}

challenge

^the

authority

^of

thecommittee and argue thatits activities were unconstitutional. Even if this

strategy

^meant

imprisonment,

^itwould

gain publicity

^{for theircause.}

Brecht

disagreed.

^What

good

^{wasit, he}

^asked,

^to

play

^the

martyr

^and

gain

^alittle

public sympathy

^ifinthe process

they

^{lost the}

ability

^to

stage

their

plays

and sell their

scripts

for years^tocome?He feltcertain

they

^were

Voltairewaslivingⁱⁿ exileinLondonat:1 time whenuntifrenclr 3.-enrimemwasin itshighest.^Oneday walkingI/trough^the

streets, hefoundhimself

summnderlby^an

tmgrycrowd.“Ilrmg

him.Ilzmg^{the French}

man,^”llzagv yelled.

Voltairecalmly adrlrresmrl the mob with thefollowing^words:

"MenofEngland/^You

wishtokillmt‘because IamaFrmchman.Am Ino:ymnirhed enough

innotMing^haman Eirgléxhmarz?^"T/tr:

crowdcharred /zis thoughtfulwnrrlx,^and escorted himsafely backmhislodgings.

ins,LITTLE.^BROWN noonorm+:n)o'rF.s.

CI.lF'l'().\'FADIMAN,I-.t)..

1985

LAW 22 I65

166 LAW22

allmore

intelligent

than the members of thecommittee.

Why

lower them- selvestothelevel of theiropponents

by arguing

^withthem?

Why

^{not out}

fox thecommittee

by appearing

^{tosurrendertoitwhile}

subtly mocking

^it?

The

Hollywood

^{19 listenedtoBrecht}

politely,

but decided^to sticktotheir

plan, leaving

^Brechttogo his^ownway.

The ^committee

finally

summoned Brecht on October 30.

They

^ex-

pected

^himtodo what others among the

Hollywood

19 who had testified before him had done:

Argue,

^{refuse to answer}

questions, challenge

^the

committee's

right

^{tohold its}

hearing,

^even

yell

and hurl insults. Much to their

surprise, however,

^{Brecht was} the very

picture

^of

Congeniality.

^He

wore asuit

(something

^he

rarely did),

^{smoked a}

cigar (he

^{had heard that}

the committee chairman was a

passionate cigar smoker),

^{answered their}

questions politely,

^and

generally

^{deferredtotheir}

authority.

Unlike the otherwitnesses, Brecht answered the

question

^{of whether}

he

belonged

^to the Communist

Party:

^{He was not a}

^member,

^he

^said,

which

happened

^{tobe thetruth. Onecommitteememberaskedhim,“isit}

trueyou have^writtenanumber of

revolutionary plays?”

^{Brechthadwrit-}

ten many

plays

^{with overt} Communist messages, but he

responded,

^“I

havewritten^anumber ofpoems and songs and

plays

^inthe

fight against

Hitler

and,

^ofcourse,

they

^canbe

considered, therefore,

^as

revolutionary

because

I,

^{ofcourse,wasfor the}overthrow of that

government.”

^Thisstate

ment went

unchallenged.

Brecht’s

English

^{was more than}

adequate,

but he used^an

interpreter throughout

^his

testimony,

^{atactic that}allowed himto

play

subtle games with

language.

^{Whencommittee} members found Communist

leanings

ⁱⁿ

lines from

English

^{editionsof his}poems, he would

repeat

^{the linesinGer}

man forthe

interpreter,

who would then retranslate

them;

^andsomehow

they

would come^{outinnocuous.}Atone

point

^{acommittee memberread}

oneof Brechfs

revolutionary

poems^outloud in

English,

^andasked him if he hadwritten it.

“No,”

he

responded,

^“IwroteaGerman poem, which^is very different from this.” The author's elusive^answersbaffled thecommit- tee

members,

^{but his}

politeness

^andthe way he

yielded

^totheir

authority

made it

impossible

^{for themto}getangry with him.

After

only

^{an hour of}

questioning,

the committee members had had

enough.

“Thank you very

much,”

^{said the}

chairman,

^{“Youare a}

good

^ex-

ample

^tothe

{other}

witnesses.”Not

only

^did

they

^free

him, they

^offeredto

help

^himifhehad any trouble^with

immigration

oficials who

might

^detain

him for theirown reasons.The

following day,

^Brechtleft the United

States,

nevertoreturn.

Interpretation

The

Hollywood

^19’sconfrontational

approach

^{wonthem alot}of sympa~

thy,

and years later

they gained

^akind of vindicationin

public opinion.

^But

they

^{were also}

blacklisted,

and lost valuable years^of

profitable working

time.

Brecht,

^{on the other}

hand, expressed

^his

disgust

^{at the committee}

more

indirectly.

^{Itwasnotthat he}

^changed

^hisbeliefsor

compromised

^his

values; instead, during

^hisshort

testimony,

^he

kept

the upper hand

by

ap-

pearing

^to

yield

while all thetime

running

^{circles around thecommittee} with vague responses,

outright

^{lies thatwent}

unchallenged

^because

they

were

wrapped

ⁱⁿ

^enigmas,

^{and word}games. ^In the end he

kept

^{the free-}

domtocontinue his

revolutionary writing (as opposed

^to

suffering impris

onmentordetainmentinthe United

States),

^evenwhile

subtly mocking

^the

committeeandits

authority

^{with his}

pseudo-obedience.

Keep

^{inmind the}

following: People trying

^tomakeashow of theirau-

thority

^are

easily

^deceived

by

the surrender tactic. Your outward

sign

^of

submission makes them feel

important;

satisfied that you

respect them, they

^{becomeeasiertargetsforalater}

counterattack,

^orfor the kind of indi»

rectridicule used

by

^Brecht.

Measuring

your power^overtime,^neversacri- fice

long-term maneuverability

^forthe short-lived

glories

^of

martyrdom.

When thegreat^lordpasses, ^{the wise}peasant^bows

deeply

^and

silently farts.

Ethiopian prozuzllr

KEYS T0 POWER

Whatgets^{usintotroubleinthe realmof}power^isoftenour own overreac~

tion to the moves of our enemies and rivals. That overreaction creates

problems

^wewould have avoided hadwebeen morereasonable. It also hasanendless rebound

effect,

for the enemy then^overreactsas

well,

^much

asthe Athenians didtotheMelians. Itis

always

^{ourfirstinstincttoreact,to}

meet

aggression

^{with some other kind of}

aggression.

^{But the next time}

someone

pushes

you and you find

yourself starting

^toreact,

try

^{this: Donot}

resistor

fight ^back,

^but

yield,

^{turnthe other}

cheek,

bend. You will findthat this often neutralizes their

behavior——they expected,

^even wanted you^to reactwith force andso

they

^are

caught ofiguard

and confounded

by

^your

lack ofresistance.

By yielding,

you ^{in fact} control the situation, ^because your^surrenderis

part

^ofa

larger plan

^{tolull theminto}

believing they

^have

defeated you.

Thisistheessenceof thesurrendertactic:

Inwardly

you

stay firm,

^but

outwardly

^{you bend.}

Deprived

^{ofareason to}

get

angry, your

opponents

will often be bewildered instead. And

they

^are

unlikely

^{to reactwithmore}

violence,

which would demand ^areaction from you. Instead you ^are al lowed the time and space ^to

plot

^the countermoves that will

bring

^them

down. Inthebattleof the

intelligent against

the brutal and the

aggressive,

the surrender ^{tactic is} the _supremeweapon. It does

require

self~control:

Those who

genuinely

^surrender

give

up their

freedom,

and may be crushed

by

the humiliationoftheirdefeatYou havetoremember that you

only appear

^to

surrender,

^{like the}animal that

plays

^{deadtosaveitshide.}

Wehaveseenthatitcanbe bettertosurrender thanto

fight;

^{faced with}

a. more

powerful opponent

^andasure

defeat,

^{it is} often also bettertosur-

render thanto^runaway.

Running

away may^saveyou for the ^time

being,

but the aggressor will

eventually

catch up with you. you surrender^in-

stead,

you have ^an

opportunity

^tocoilaround your enemy and strike with your

fangs

from close up.

LAW 22 167

I65

In 473B.C., in ancient

China, King Goujian

^{ofYuesufferedahorrible}

defeat from the ruler ofWuinthe battleof

Fujiao. Goujian

^wantedto

^flee,

but he hadanadviserwhotoldhimtosurrender andto

place

^himselfinthe

serviceofthe ruler of

Wu,

^{from which}

position

^{he could}

study

^themanand

plot

his revenge.

Deciding

^tofollowthis

^advice, Goujian gave

the ruler all of his

riches,

^{andwenttoworkinhis}

conqueror’s

^{stablesasthe lowestser-}

vant.Forthree years he humbled himself before the

ruler,

^who

then, finally

satisfied ofhis

loyalty,

^{allowed him to return home.}

Inwardly,

^however,

Goujian

^had

spent

those three years

gathering

informationand

plotting

^re-

venge. When ^aterrible

drought

^struck

^Wu,

^{and the}

kingdom

^{was weak}

ened

by

^{irmer turmoil, he raised an} army,

invaded,

^{and wonwith ease.}

Thatisthe power behind surrender:^It

gives

you the^timeand the

flexibility

to

plot

^a

devastating

counterblow. Had

Goujian

^runaway, he would have lost this chance.

When

foreign

^trade

began

^tothreaten

Japanese independence

^inthe

mid—nineteenth

century,

^the

Japanese

^{debatedhowto defeatthe}

foreign-

ers.Oneminister,^Hotta

Masayoshi,

^{wroteamemorandumin1857thatin-}

fluenced

Japanese policy

^foryears^{tocome:“Iamtherefore}convincedthat

our

policy

^{should betoconclude}

friendly alliances,

^{to send}

ships

^to

foreign

counhies

everywhere

and conduct

trade,

^tocopy the

foreigners

^where

they

areattheir best andso

repair

^ourown

shortcomings,

^{tofosterournational}

strength

^and

complete

^ourarmaments, and^so

gradually subject

^the

foreigrr

erstoourinfluence untilintheend all the countries oftheworld know the

blessings

^of

perfect tranquillity

^{and our}

hegemony

^is

acknowledged throughout

^the

globe.”

^{This isa brilliant}

application

of the Law: Use sur-

render to

gain

^{access to} your enemy. ^Learn his ways, ^insinuate

yourself

with him

slowly, outwardly

^{conformtohiscustoms,but}

inwardly

^maintain

your^ownculture.

Eventually

you will emergevictorious,^{forwhile hecon—}

siders you weak^andinferior,^{and takesno}

precautions against

you, you^are

using

^thetimetocatch up^andsurpass him. This

soft, penneable

^{form ofin»}

vasionisoften the

best,

^{for the}enemy has

nothing

^{to react}

against,

prepare for, ^{orresist.And had}

japan

resisted Western influence

by ^force,

^it

might

well have suffered ^a

devastating

^invasionthat would have

permanently

^al-

tereditsculture.

Surrendercanalso offer away of

mocking

your enemies, ^of

turning

their power

against them,

^{as itdidfor}Brecht. Milan Kundera’s novel 7719

Jake,

^{basedontheauthor’s}

experiences

^ina

penal

campⁱⁿ

Czechoslovakia,

tells the

story

^{of how the}

prison guards organized

^a

relay

^race,

guards against prisoners.

^{For the}

guards

^{thiswasachancetoshowofftheir}

physi-

cal

superiority.

^The

prisoners

^knew

they

^were

expected

^to

lose,

^so

they

went out of their way ^to

oblige-—miming exaggerated

^{exertion while}

barely moving, running

^afew

yards

^and

collapsing, limping, jogging

^ever

so

slowly

^whilethe

guards

raced aheadatfull

speed.

^Both

by joining

^the

race and

by losing

ig

they

^had

obliged

^the

guards obediently;

^{but their}

“overobedience” had mocked theeventtothe

point

^of

mining

^it.Overobe- dience—su.rrender—was here a way ^to demonstrate

superiority

^{in a re-}

versemanner. Resistancewould have

engaged

^the

prisoners

^inthe

cycle

^of

violence, lowering

^themtothe

guards’

^level.

Overobeying

^the

guards,

^how»

ever,madethem

ridiculous,

yet

they

^couldnot

rightly punish

^the

prison»

ers,who had

only

^donewhat

they

^asked.

Poweris

always

ⁱⁿflux—since the game^is

by

^nature

fluid,

^{andan arena} ofconstant

struggle,

those with power almost

always

find themselves^even-

tually

^onthe downward

swing.

If you find

yourself temporarily weakened,

thesurrender tacticis

perfect

^for

raising yourselfup again»-it disguises

your

ambition;

^itteaches you

patience

^and

self—control, key

^skillsin the game;

andit

puts

youⁱⁿthe best

possible position

^for

taking advantage

of yourup-

pressofs

sudden slide. If you^runaway^or

fight back,

^inthe

long

^runyou cannot win.If you

surrender,

youwill almost

always

emergevictorious.

Image:

^{An Oak}

Tree. The oak that resists the wind loses its branches one

by

^{one, and}

with

nothing

left to

protect

it, ^{the trunk fi-}

nally

snaps.

The oak that bendslives

long-

er, itstrunk_grow-

ing ^wider,

^{its roots}

deeper

^{and more tenacious.}

Authority:

Ye have heardthat it hath been

said,

^An eye^foran eye andatooth foratooth: ButIsay^untoyou, Thatye resist^notevil: but whosoever shallsmite thee^on

thy right ^cheek,

^{turn tohim theother}

also. And if any^manwillsuetheeatthe

law,

^andtakeaway

thy

^coat,

letthem have

thy

cloak also. And whosoevershall

compel

^{thee to}

go ^a mile, go with him ^twain.

(Jesus ^Christ,

^{in Matthew}

5:38-41)

LAW22 169