The 48 Laws Of Power

TRANSGRESSIONOFTHELAW

TheMexicanrebelleaderPanchoVillastartedoutasthechiefofa
gang

of

bandits,

butafter

revolutionbrokeoutinMexicoin

1910,

hebecamea.

kindoffolk
hero—robbing

trainsand

giving

the

money

tothe

poor,

lead

ingdaring

raids,

and

charming

theladieswithromantic

escapades.

Hisex-

ploits

fascinatedAmericans—heseemedaman fromanother

era,

part

Robin

Hood,

part

Don

Juan.

Afterafew

years

ofbitter

fighting,

however,

GeneralCarranza

emerged

asthevictorinthe

Revolution;

thedefeated

Villaandhis
troops

wentback

home,

tothenorthernstateofChihuahua.

His

army

dwindledandheturnedto

banditryagain,damaging

his

popu-

larity.Finally,perhaps

outof

desperation,

he

began

torail

against

the

United

States,

the

gringos,

whom

heblamedforhistroubles.

InMarchof

1916,

PanchoVilla

raided

Columbus,

NewMexico.Ram»

pagingthrough

the

town,

heandhis

gang

killedseventeenAmericansol-

diersandcivilians.PresidentWoodrow

Wilson,

like

manyAmericans,

had

admired

Villa;now,however,

thebanditneededtobe

punished.

Wilson’s

advisers

urged

himtosend

troops

intoMexicoto

capture

Villa.Fora

power

as

large

as

theUnited

States,

theyargued,

nottostrikebackatan

army

that

hadinvadedits

territory

wouldsendtheworstkindof

signal.

Furthermore,

they

continued,

many

AmericanssawWilsonasa

pacifist,

a

principle

the

public

doubtedasa

response

to

violence;

heneededto

prove

hismettleandmanliness

byordering

theuseofforce.

The

pressure

on

Wflson

was

strong,

andbeforethemonthwas

out,

withthe

approval

oftheCarranza

government,

hesentan

army

often

thousandsoldiersto

capture

PanchoVilla.Theventurewascalledthe

Punitive

Expedition,

anditsleaderwasthe

dashing

General

john

Persh-

ing,

whohaddefeated

guerrillas

inthe

Philippines

andNativeAmericans

in

theAmericanSouthwest.

CertainlyPershing

couldfindand

overpower

PanchoVilla.

ThePunitive

Expedition

becameasensational

story,

andcarloadsof

US.

reporters

followed

Pershing

intoaction.The

campaign,they

wrote,

would beatestofAmerican

power.

Thesoldiers carried

thelatestin

weaponry,

communicated

by

radio,

and

were

supportedby

reconnais-

sancefromtheair.

Inthefirstfew

months,

the

troopssplitup

intosmallunitstocombthe

wildsofnorthernMexico.TheAmericansoffereda

$50,000

rewmdforin-

fonnation

leading

to Villa’s

capture.

Butthe

Mexican

people,

whohad

beendisillusionedwithVillawhenhehadreturnedto

banditry,

nowidol-

izedhimfor

facing

this

mighty

American

army.

They

began

to

give

Persh-

ing

falseleads:Villahadbeenseeninthis

village,

orinthatmountain

hideaway,airplanes

wouldbe

dispatched,troops

would

scurry

after

them,

andno onewouldeverseehim.The

wily

banditseemedtobe

always

one

step

aheadoftheAmerican

military.

By

thesummerofthat

year,

the

expedition

hadswelledto

123,000

men.

They

suffered

through

the

stultifying

heat,

the

mosquitoes,

thewild

terrain.

Trudging

overa

countryside

inwhich

they

were

already

resented,

HI;I‘().‘\:\.\I)

‘llllitIR.r\l’l'..‘s'

/l

starving

fox

...

saw:1cluster

Oflurriour-looking

grapesofpurplish.

luster

Dangling

ubuvehiman

a

lrelliscvfrume.

Hewouldhave

dearly

likedlhem

for

hir

lunch,

Butwhenhetriedand

failed

toreachthe

bunch:

“Ahwell,it’smorethan

likely

the_v’re

not

Sweet-

(load

onlyforgrew:

fools

1:)eat.’

"

Warn’!hewiseto

my

they

were

unripe

Ratherthanwhine

and

gripe?

FAELES.

JEANDELAF<)N'IAlNI€.

16214695

Once whenG.K.

Fliesterronlrecrmorrzic

viewswereabu.\'t'din

primbyGeorge

Bernard

Shaw,

his

friends

waitedinvain

for

himto

reply.

HtrtoriurzHiluire

Belloc

re-pmached

him.

"My

dearBellov,

"

Chesterton

said,

“I

haveanswerer!him.

To

a

manuf'§'huw's

wit,

silenceis

[he

one

unbearable

reparlee.

"

ri-reLlT'l‘I.E,l$R()W.\'

BUOK()1?AN!-,(‘I)()1

Cl.ll‘”l‘0N

FAIHMAN,

E17,,

1985

LAW 35 30]