The "Art of War" & Wisconsin's Labor Conflict: An Initial Inquiry

The Art of War  by Sun Tzu is a piece that explores conflict. And Sun Tzu is regarded as a perspective of “taking whole” in order to lead to victory. But unlike some interpretations and practices of conflict it believes that

“True victory is victory over aggression, a victory that respects the enemy’s basic humanity and thus renders further conflict unnecessary” (xvii).  

And its framework doesn’t follow traditional argumentation. Instead

“It mostly offers us examples that concretely embody the point of view from which it regards the world. It is a loosely linked set of observations and models, with only the barest argumentation connecting them. It does not develop its doctrines through logical demonstration. Rather, it teaches by analogy and metaphor. We cannot simply pluck its insights and drop them into our already existing frameworks. We must develop new ways to use our minds” (xix).  

So, my challenge will be to explore the Art of War by Sun Tzu and see how I can explore the labor issue in Wisconsin through the teachings of Sun Tzu. I believe that this would be an interesting way to explore this conflict because of a few initial links/connections that I am seeing: 1^st- argumentation and debate are about conflict; 2^nd- the Labor/Union issue is about conflict, 3^rd- the conflict is explored through different means including argumentation and debate (both considered strategic thinking); 4^th- the “figure of Sun Tzu came to represent the supreme model of strategic thinking” (xiii); and, 5^th- the text “shows how we can work with conflict both within and outside ourselves” (xiii). 

These “scratch the surface” thoughts will motivate the reading of The Art of War but as these teaching suggests I should be open to what they have to say and be open to their guidance on this subject matter.  If connections must be forced I will not continue to do so, but if no force is needed to apply and explore the two together I will see where Sun Tzu takes me.

If you have any thoughts, bits of wisdom, or dope resources (scholarly or otherwise) that may help to plant seeds to let the ‘Art of War as applied to the Wisconsin Labor Dispute’ flower grow- id be much appreciated.

Pages Excerpted from:

Tzu, S. (2001). The Art of War: The Denma Translation (Translation, Essays & Commentary by the Denma Translation Group). Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, Inc.