The 48 Laws Of Power

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by

someaccidentlosthis

tail,

whichwas(1

griev-

ous

ajflielion

to

him;

andhewas

every

where

seeking:1/terit,being

foolenough

/0thinkhe

could

get

itseton

again.

He

passed

through

a

meadow,

and

afterwardsgo!

intoa

garden.

The

gardener

.Y€(’lllg

him,

andnot

abletoendurethe

misehiefhe

was

doing

in

trampling

downhis

plums,fell

intoa

violent

rage,

rantothe

u.i'.s‘,

imdnever

sumding

onthe

(‘en*m0riyof

a

pillory.

out

off

bothhis

ears,

andhealhimout

oftheground.

Thusthe

ass.

whohenmanxidthe

loss

of

histail.wasin

fargreaterujflierion

whenheraw

himself

withoutears.

FABLENZ

PILPAY.

INu1A,

FOURTH

(‘ENTURY

llll‘.l'R<>l)|(.\r'U\'

Once,

whentheToku-

daijr

HllIll.Y1(’l'

of

the

right

was

chiefof

the

iI7t[M.’rl{1l])()li(,‘é',

hewas

holding

a

meetingof

his

staff

atthemiddle

gale

whenanax

belonging

toan

official

nameilAkikane

got

looseandwandered

intothe

ministry

build-

ing.

[Iclimbed

up

on

-302 LAW 36

they

infuriatedboththelocal

people

andtheMexican

government.

Atone

point

Pancho

Villa

hid

ina

mountaincavetorecoverfroma.

gunshot

woundhereceivedinaskirmishwiththeMexican

army;looking

down

fromhis

aerie,

hecouldwatch

Pershing

leadthe exhaustedAmerican

troops

backandforthacrossthe

mountains,

never

gettingany

closerto

their

goal.

Allthe

way

into

winter,

Villa

played

hiscat-and—mouse

game.

Ameri-

canscametoseetheaffairasakindof

slapstick

fa,rce—infact

theybegan

to

admireVilla

again, respecting

hisresourcefulnessin

eluding

a

superior

force.In

January

of

1917,

Wilson

finally

ordered

Pershing’s

withdrawal.As

the

troops

madetheir

way

backtoAmerican

territory,

rebelforces

pursued

them,

forcing

theU.S.

Army

touse

airplanes

to

protect

itsrearflanks.The

Punitive

Expedition

was

beingpunished

itself—ithadturnedintoaretreat

ofthemost

humiliating

sort.

Interpretation

WoodrowWilson

organized

thePunitive

Expedition

asashowofforce:He

wouldteachPanchoVillaalessonandinthe

process

Showtheworldthat

no

one,

large

or

small,

couldattackthe

mighty

UnitedStatesand

getaway

withit.The

expedition

wouldbeoverinafew

weeks,

andVillawouldbe

forgotten,

Thatwasnothowit

played

out.The

longer

the

expedition

took,

the

moreitfocusedattentionontheAmericans’

incompetence

andonVilla’s

cleverness.Soonwhatwas

forgotten

wasnotVillabuttheraidthathad

starteditall.Asaminor

annoyance

becameaninternationalembarrass-

ment,

andthe

enraged

Americans

dispatched

more

troops,

theimbalance

betweenthesizeofthe

pursuer

andthesizeofthe

pursued—who

stillman-

aged

to

stay

free—ma.detheaffaira

joke.

Andintheendthiswhiteele-

phant

of

an

army

had

tolumberoutof

Mexico,

humiliated.ThePunitive

Expedition

didthe

opposite

of

whatit

setout todo:

It

leftVillanot

only

freebutmore

popular

thanever.

WhatcouldWilsonhavedone

differently?

Hecouldhave

pressured

theCarranza

government

to

catch

Villa

for

him.

Alternatively,

since

many

MexicanshadtiredofVillabeforethePunitive

Expeditionbegan,

he

could

haveworked

quietly

withthemandwontheir

support

foramuchsmaller

raidto

capture

thebandit.Hecouldhave

organized

a

trap

ontheAmeri-

cansideofdie

border,

anticipating

thenextraid.Orhecouldhave

ignored

thematter

altogether

forthetime

being,waiting

fortheMexicansthem-

selves

todo

away

withVilla

of

theirown

accord.

Remember:Youchoosetolet

things

bother

you.

Youcan

just

as

easily

choosenottonoticethe

irritating

offender,

toconsiderthemattertrivial

and

unworthy

of

your

interestThatisthe

powerful

move.What

you

do

notreacttocannot

dragyou

downinafutile

engagement.

Your

pride

isnot

involved.Thebestlesson

you

canteach

an

irritatinggnat

isto

consign

it

to

oblivion

byignoring

it.Ifitis

impossible

to

ignore(Pancho

Villahadinfact

killedAmerican

citizens),

then

conspire

insecrettodo

away

with

it,

but