But often, the enemy is only partially destroyed. Thus, winners must cope with live enemies who may rise again. And rise they will. Good sportsmanship, that is, being a good loser, is taught from childhood. But gracious victory remains elusive.
History is replete with examples of victors undermining their own successes because of arrogance.
The rise of Nazism after World War I grew from France and Great Britain's impossible demands for war reparations. Germany's economy went into a tailspin. Hitler's rise was inevitable when Germans needed a wheelbarrow of Deutchmarks to buy a loaf of bread. Conversely, America's unprecedented largess to Japan after World War II backfired, eclipsing American manufacturing preeminence. Unbridled viciousness, or generosity, defies the Taoist goal of balance and harmony.