Hey guys,

Quicky. Today I am sharing something from a kind of messed up book.

It's called The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Here's the brief:

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills 3,000 years of the history of power into 48 well-explicated laws. This bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesising the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun-tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other great thinkers. Some laws teach the need for prudence ("Law 1: Never Outshine the Master") and the virtue of stealth ("Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions"); many demand the total absence of mercy ("Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally"). But like it or not, all have applications in real life. Illustrated through the tactics of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Kissinger, P. T. Barnum, and other famous figures who have wielded, or been victimised by, power, these laws will fascinate any listener interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.

and it begins:

The feeling of having no power over people and events is generally unbearable to us - when we feel helpless we feel miserable. No one wants less power; everyone wants more. In the world today, however, it is dangerous to seem too power hungry, to be overt with your power moves. We have to seem fair and decent. So we need to be subtle - congenial yet cunning, democratic yet devious.

And if you're about to say "Wow the notion of playing power games seems evil, asocial and a relic of the past", well Robert Greene addresses this upfront in the preface as well:

To some people the notion of consciously playing power games - no matter how indirect - seems evil, asocial, a relic of the past. They believe they can opt out of the game by behaving in ways that have nothing to do with power. You must beware of such people, for while they express such opinions outwardly, they are often among the most adept players at power. They utilise strategies that cleverly disguise the nature of the manipulation involved. These types, for example, will often display their weakness and lack of power as a kind of moral virtue. But true powerlessness, without any motive of self-interest, would not publicise its weakness to gain sympathy or respect. Making a show of one's weakness is actually a very effective strategy, subtle and deceptive, in the game of power (see Law 22, the Surrender Tactic).

The paragraph that follows is the one I really wanted to share though. (The reason is because it relates to one of the adventures I've had on Twitter recently (over a year of Growing Up and 64 podcast episodes later, I am finally getting serious about distribution!! Tiktok wasn't the one and so far I'm enjoying Twitter for audience building... more on this another time, some entertaining / eye opening stories I think you guys may enjoy...)

Anyway, without further context, here is the paragraph. Trigger warning, for any Marxists playing along, this may be unpleasant to read:

Another strategy of the supposed nonplayer is to demand equality in every area of life. Everyone must be treated alike, whatever their status and strength. But if, to avoid the taint of power, you attempt to treat everyone equally and fairly, you will confront the problem that some people do certain things better than others. Treating everyone equally means ignoring their differences, elevating the less skillful and suppressing those who excel. Again, many of those who behave this way are actually deploying another power strategy, redistributing people's rewards in a way that they determine.

Veryyyyy interesting. (Treat everyone fairly of course, but is the fastest runner allowed a gold medal reward? Or no.)

Anyway I have only read a couple of the rules from the *concise* edition (the full thing is a 463 page tome). If I keep reading and come across anything else worth sharing, I will of course let you know.

This week on Growing Up with Delia Burgess
​Ep. 64 - Jono Pang: living in Caymans, New York, Amsterdam & meeting his wife couchsurfing

Jono Pang works in private equity fund accounting and lives in Amsterdam.

I guess the title says most of it? Jono was born in San Fran to Hong Kong Chinese parents. He grew up in Sydney, then moved to the Cayman Islands where he worked in hedge fund accounting and enjoyed paying zero income tax. Then he moved to New York (which is where I met him). He now lives in Amsterdam with his Dutch wife (who he met couchsurfing). On a recent trip to London we recorded this conversation. It's really fun having the opportunity to ask a friend why they made all the decisions they did in their life! Hopefully it's as interesting to listen to :)

​xx Delia

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