In our age of oversharing, TMI, and the quest for external validation of every inner thought, this next law of power will be anathema to those beyond the Boomer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By concealing true intentions, it is more likely to achieve the ultimate goal. Everyone likes to be a spoiler, but one cannot spoil the unseen, the unknown, or the unsuspected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Otto von Bismarck, a young deputy in Prussia\u2019s mid-19th<\/sup> century parliament, had the public persona of a warhawk; Austria, Prussia\u2019s neighbor to the south (why is it always the South? Oh yeh \u2013 hell is that way), was saber-rattling with threats of war. Von Bismarck preferred to go to battle but knew the Prussian king wanted to avoid the conflict, and suspected that Prussia might lose to Austria\u2019s superior military might. So he gave a speech, supporting and encouraging peace that completely contradicted his reputation, confounded his colleagues, and garnered an elevated position of power in the king\u2019s cabinet. Over time, he was able to fortify the Prussian army and ultimately defeat Austria in 1866. By concealing his motives, von Bismarck achieved his objective: the decisive defeat of Austria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The lesson? Concealing one\u2019s intentions is simple, albeit not easy. Most people trust in appearances. Visibly supporting an idea or a cause that contradicts the actual desire or result functions as an effective red herring, and distracts others from your ultimate goal. Hide your desires and goals by talking endlessly about them \u2013 just not the genuine ones. In this manner, people will think: Nearly 900 years before the birth of CHRIST, a king of Israel named Jehu asked that all the worshippers of Ba\u2019al in Samaria come to the house of Ba\u2019al for a \u201cgreat sacrifice\u201d and told them, \u201cAhab served Ba\u2019al a little; but [I] will serve him much.\u201d\u00a0 Jehu had already ordered the sons of Ahab beheaded \u2013 70 in all \u2013 and piled their heads at the gates of Jezreel, so Jehu was quite gangster.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jehu had all those who worshipped Ba\u2019al congregated in one place \u2014 \u201cthe house of Ba\u2019al was full from one end to another\u201d \u2014 and placed 80 men around the spot, and told them to kill everyone inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThus Jehu destroyed Ba\u2019al out of Israel.\u201d {2 Kings 10:28<\/em>}<\/p>\n\n\n\n Effectively, Jehu convinced all the Ba\u2019al worshippers that he, too, was like-minded, and that he was planning a great celebration in honor of Ba\u2019al, when in fact he was planning to exterminate them like bugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which he did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ethiopia is the only ancient African nation that has never been conquered\/colonized by the Europeans.\u00a0 The Italians\/Brits\/Russians occupied it for a bit but were never actual owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Good all over it\/them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Early in the 20th<\/sup> century the country was divided and ruled by warlords, with one young man \u2013 Ras Tafari \/ Halie Selassie \u2013 emerging as the leader who could potentially unify the nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One by one, the warlords were summoned to Addis Adaba to declare their loyalty to Emperor Selassie, but one continued to resist.\u00a0 Rather than threaten the holdout, Emperor Selassie invited the man to a banquet in his honor; the man agreed, but only after insisting 600 of his best men accompany him and secreting an army 10,000-strong three miles outside of the city.\u00a0 During the banquet, the emperor made a point of appealing to the warlord\u2019s vanity, appearing to defer to his might and having songs sung in the man\u2019s honor.\u00a0 The warlord was beguiled, and as he made his way back to his army hidden outside the city he congratulated himself on his dominance and fomented plans to unseat Selassie and seize power.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n However.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When he arrived back at the encampment, his army was gone.\u00a0 Apparently, Emperor Selassie had bribed the warlord\u2019s army with gold and cash, purchased their weapons, and sent the men to the four winds.\u00a0 When the man tried to march back to Addis Adaba with his 600 men, Emperor Selassie used his army to block the way, and the warlord was forced to surrender, and spent the remainder of his life in a monastery.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Checkmate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A notorious, 17th<\/sup>-century French courtesan named Ninon de Lenchos summarized it best:\u00a0 Eeewwww. Deception is exhausting. Yet necessary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unless you\u2019re a honey badger, in which case your intentions are plain, incontrovertible, and consistent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kill everything.\u00a0 Just don’t announce your plans to do so. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In our age of oversharing, TMI, and the quest for external validation of every inner thought, this next law of power will be anathema to those beyond the Boomer. By concealing true intentions, it is more likely to achieve the ultimate goal. Everyone likes to be a spoiler, but one cannot spoil the unseen, the … <\/p>\n
1. That you are open;
2. That you are honest; and
3. That they know what you want, so that if they wish to disrupt your plans, they can\/will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Win the victory before declaring the war.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n