Posted for Spencer Carpenter
“It is better to be feared then loved”, these are the great words of Niccolo
Machiavelli. Known as the father of modern political theory, Machiavelli grew up in
Italy during a time of emperor’s, a time that if you had brains and bronze you could
gain a lot for your self. What made Niccolo stand out is how he went about things, he
was a very fast acting and had a great political front in many things he did. Like
many politicians in the past or even today Machiavelli did not always think it was
best to be honest, for instance he once told another leader he wanted to talk and
when they arrived Niccolo had them all murdered.
Machiavelli said the most important thing is to stay in power and if you have to
learn to be bad then that’s what you should do he was not past lying and murder.
This political game is shown in the Netflix series House of Cards, Frank Underwood
is a politician trying to gain power and eventually climb his way to be the President
of the United States. Frank would lie, cheat and kill anybody that got in the way of
him becoming President. This show could be based on what Machiavelli would be
like as a modern politician.
Niccolo also wrote a booked called the The Prince showing all of his ideas about
being a great leader or politician in today’s terms. Politicians today such as Donald
Trump have been know for saying outlandish things and even acting “un-
presidential”, although if taken into perspective he is doing far less then what
Machiavelli might have done.
This brings the question should politicians be more like Machiavelli or play by the
rules? Obviously, the political game has changed vastly since his time although there
is still Machiavelli like actions still going on in politics. Nobody is going to become a
political leader without being deceitful at some point in his or her career. The
political game has a lot to do with gaining power and friends so when you need
something done it is a lot easier. Even if its not lying or cheating politicians today
are fast acting to get a upper hand on any situation, just a few months ago Trump
made a statement about women and getting abortions and his competition Cruze
was quick to act of the situation by having his wife and mother speak to women
groups. Machiavelli though success was based a lot on luck, chances and our results
on those chances by luck, and this was a chance by Cruze to gain on trumps bad luck
or weakness and Cruze was successful with his actions.
So even though Cruze didn’t come out with a knife and kill Trump politicians today
will do whatever it takes to gain power over an opponent. This is why Machiavelli’s
ideas led him to be known as the father of modern day political theory.
"Politicians today such as Donald Drumpf have been know for saying outlandish things and even acting “un-presidential”, although if taken into perspective he is doing far less then what Machiavelli might have done" - DD is "feared" less as a conniving political operator than as a loose cannon, lacking the guile and acuity that NM counseled "Princes" to cultivate. But his loose regard for the truth does seem surprisingly appealing to a segment of the electorate, who apparently "love" his rogue approach to blowing things up. Democracy was supposed to have educated the public, not indulged its ignorance.
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