In a message dated 97-11-19 11:59:53 EST, [log in to unmask] writes on PL:
> A disappointed Dyanne Noone, president of the Lower Hudson’s Housing
> Coalition, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said, “The asbestos and
> hazardous waste would have to be removed whether the building were being
> restored or demolished. So we have some time to consider our next
> move.”
"So we have some time to consider our next move.”
Seriously, not humus, where do people such as Dyanne Noone turn to for
guidance in deciding how to make the next move, or, the last set of moves? It
occurs to me that making moves requires a set of stratagems from which to
make effective decisions as to the "next move".
Bryan Blundell, with PTN, expresses various strategic plans... particularly
relating to developing a cohesive trade network. Bryan's efforts need
support, regardless of our occupations. Analogy: though we can become a
service economy in an information age if we do not reach back past the
industrial age to provide for a healthy agrarian economy we will be hungry.
If we do not look after the health of the trades we will have no
preservation. Outside of PTN I sense a growing awareness that preservation
must recognize not only the "technicians", but the practitioners and the
practical.
Beyond the class of "technicians" are the people with the real money... the
fact that a multi-millionaire quietly makes an annual contribution to a
colonial theme village, out of a sense of patriotic necessity, makes for an
economy whereby the technicians are able to exist. The preservation movement
in America started with philanthropy... and I think in part we, participants
in the preservation industry, often restrict ourselves into thinking that the
wealthy do not continue to take part in pushing the movement. Any comments on
the division of economic classes would be appreciated.
Though I am aware of there being texts on the economics of preservation, I
have not seen any texts on preservation strategy. I suspect that many battles
are lost due to a lack of strategic tools.
A strategy for BP preservationeers is as follows: Strategem #7, Create
Something from Nothing.
A. An apparition or illusion is deliberately created in such a way that the
enemy sees it for what it is; his vigilance is thus lulled, so that later he
mistakes a real danger for the illusion and falls victim to it without
resistance.
B. Gain an advantage, or create a change of opinion or of reality, by
conjuring an illusion.
C. Make something up out of whole cloth; present a falsehood as fact;
fabricate rumors, campaigns of lies and slander; make a mountain out of a
molehill. The stratagem of disinformation.
Example: Vietnam's Floating Leaves
Nguyen Trai ordered that the prophecy "Le -Loi shall be king, and Nguyen Trai
his minister" be inscribed, in delicate strokes, on the leaves of the trees.
To convey this message required only a few of the Chinese characters then in
common use in Vietnam. These were written on the leaves not with ink but with
lard. Ants gnawed at the fat-covered parts of the leaves, so that the message
was eaten out of their surface. The leaves were then set floating in all
directions on brooks and streams. When the Vietnamese people found these
inscribed leaves floating in the water, they took the message for a heavenly
sign of victory and fought with heightened morale against the foreign
occupying troops, who were finally driven out in the year A. D. 1428.
_The Book of Stratagems, Tactics for Triumph and Survival_, Harro Von Senger,
trans Myron B. Gubitz, Penguin Books, 1991, ISBN 0 14 01.6954 7
A 500 year old text. Of 36 stratagems the book includes 18. I missed this
fact until I got to the end of the book and wondered where the rest of the
strategems went to. Still wondering. A booksellers stratagem?
1. Fool the Emperor and Cross the Sea
2. Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao
3. Kill with a Borrowed Knife
4. Await the Exhausted Enemy at Your Ease
5. Loot a Burning House
6. Clamor in the East, Attack in the West
7. Create Something from Nothing
8. Openly Repair the Walkway, Secretly March to Chencang
9. Observe the Fire on teh Opposite Shore
10. Hide Your Dagger Behind a Smile, or, Honey in the Mouth, a Sword in the
Belt
11. Let the Plum Tree Wither in Place of the Peach
12. Seize the Opportunity to Lead the Sheep Away
13. Beat the Grass toe Startle the Snake (used by G&E on PL)
14. Borrow a Corpse for the Soul's Return
15. Lure the Tiger Down from the Mountain
16. To Catch Something, First Let it Go
17. Toss Out the Brick to Attract Jade
18. To Catch the Bandits, First Capture Their Leader
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