The Laws of Human Nature

The Aggressor’s Narrative is the justification that aggressive people use for their methods of taking power and control. It allows them to continue their aggressive actions while feeling justified in their behavior. Greene presents John D. Rockefeller’s internal value system as having an Aggressor’s Narrative. Besides his need for control, Rockefeller needed “to justify his aggressive actions to the world and to himself” (487). Being a religious man, “he could not live with the thought that what drove his actions was a desire to control people and acquire the vast sums of money necessary for such a purpose” (487). Therefore, to match his values, he constructed “the aggressor’s narrative” and convinced “himself that his quest for power served some higher purpose,” using the idea of the Protestant work ethic to support his internal logic (487). This allowed him to continue aggressively expanding his oil empire and eliminate his competition without guilt.

The Death Ground Strategy refers to the idea that people perform at their best when they feel they have no other option but to succeed. Greene draws from military history to show how commanders placed their soldiers in positions where retreat was impossible, forcing them to fight with heightened urgency and efficiency.