About Sun Tzu being part of the playbook - in my experience you are absolutely right. Occasionally, I've given "instructive" books, including Sun Tzu's Art of War, and Dawkin's The God Illusion. You know, of course, that they always have to tell you what they're doing to you, and it seems to make them feel very powerful. By then my vision was too weak to bother to even leaf through them. Maybe one day, but I got their message in many ways, and know the various ways I've been condescendingly labeled. Ahhh well, you know that expression - Whoever is trying to bring you down is already below you. :-)

Sonar

: This book is getting more interesting as I go,starting to
: agree with his premise of what the American Revolution was
: about.I also got this creeping feeling that we,the American
: people are getting played via the Sun-tzu playbook...

: .... Sun-tzu wrote

: Multiply your spies, put them everywhere, in the very Palace
: of the enemy Prince; have a list of the principal Officers
: who are at his service. Know their first & last names,

: the number of their children, their relatives, their
: friends, their servants. Let nothing happen to them that is
: not known to you.

: .... A State’s most important business is its army. It is the
: General who decides everything. If he is clever, he will
: gain an advantage from even the most dangerous &
: critical circumstances. He will know how to shape at will,
: not only the army he is commanding but also that of his
: enemies.

: Try to be victorious without giving battle. Without giving
: battle, without spilling a drop of blood, without even
: drawing a sword, the clever General succeeds in capturing
: cities. Without setting foot in a foreign Kingdom, he finds
: the means to conquer them. He acts in such a way that those
: who are inferior to him can never guess his intentions. He
: has them change location, even taking them to rather
: difficult places where they must work & suffer.

: Do not disdain the use of artifice. Begin by learning
: everyhing there is to know about your enemies. Know exactly
: what relationships they have, their reciprocal liaisons
: & interests. Do not spare large amounts of money. Have
: spies everywhere, be informed of everything.

: Overlook nothing to corrupt what is best on the enemy’s side:
: offers, presents, caresses, let nothing be omitted.
: Maintain secret liaisons with those amongst the enemy who
: are the most depraved. Use them for your own ends, along
: with other depraved individuals. Cross through their
: government, sowing dissension amongst their Chiefs.
: Ceaselessly give them false alarms & bad advice. Engage
: the Governors of their Provinces in your interests. That is
: approximately what you must do, if you wish to fool them by
: cleverness & ruse.

: When a clever General goes into action, the enemy is already
: defeated. When he fights, he alone must do more than his
: entire army, not through the strength of his arm but
: through his prudence, his manner of commanding, & above
: all his ruses. The great secret of solving all problems
: consists of the art of knowing how to create division when
: necessary.

: What is far must be brought near, advantage must be drawn even
: from losses, and slowness must be turned into diligence.
: You must be near when the enemy believes you to be far,
: have a real advantage when the enemy believes you have
: sustained some losses, be occupied by useful work when he
: believes you are slumped in rest, and use all sorts of
: diligence when he only perceives you to be moving slowly.
: Thus, by throwing him off track, you will lull him to sleep
: in order to attack him when he expects it the least &
: without him having the time to prepare for it.

: As it is essential for you to be completely familiar with the
: place where you must fight, it is no less important for you
: to know the day, the hour, even the moment of combat. That
: is a calculation which you must not neglect.

: You, therefore, who are at the head of an army must overlook
: nothing to render yourself worthy of the position you hold.
: Throw your gaze upon the measurements of quantities &
: the measurements of dimensions. Remember the rules of
: calculus. Consider the effects of balance. Examine what
: victory really is. Think about all of this deeply & you
: will have everything you need in order to never be defeated
: by your enemies.

: They who possess the true art of governing troops well are
: those who have known & who know how to make their power
: formidable, who have acquired unlimited authority, who are
: not brought low by any event no matter how vexing, who do
: nothing with precipitation, who conduct themselves as
: calmly when they are surprised as they do when their
: actions have been planned long in advance, and who always
: act in everything they do with that promptness which is in
: fact the fruit of cleverness combined with great
: experience.

: The strength of this sort of warrior is like that of those
: great bows which can only be stretched with the help of
: some machine. Their authority has the effect of those
: terrible weapons which are shot from bows which are thus
: stretched. Everything succumbs to their blows, everything
: is laid low....

: If you do exactly as I have indicated, success will accompany
: all your steps. Everywhere you will be a conqueror, you
: will spare the lives of your soldiers, you will affirm your
: country in its former possessions and procure new ones, you
: will augment the splendor & glory of the State, and the
: Prince as well as his subjects will be indebted to you for
: the sweet tranquility in which they will henceforth live
: their lives. What objects can be more worthy of your
: attention & all your efforts?

: full text
:
: https://exploringrealhistory.blogspot.com/2019/10/part-5-rulers-of-evilthe-madness-of.html