Author – Niccolò Machiavelli
This was a surreal book to read. It’s not everyday you have someone so blatantly discussing ways to hold on to power or grow your influence by employing things like cruelty, or violence, lying, etc.
I should note that a lot of sources say this book is a satire, though apparently there is some debate. I think it is likely a satire given the very cold tone of the writing, but I don’t think it matters either way. You can read it as a satire or not and still take away good lessons about human nature. And there are always people out there who will apply its lessons literally.
His perspective was interesting and if you are taking a fully rationalist approach, then I can see the justification behind some of his points.
As an example, he was talking about if a ruler should be generous or not. He discussed the downsides of being generous in that he would have a never ending supply of people looking for handouts then. But he also talked about it in terms of visibility. He said that most people won’t know him well enough to know if he is a kind and generous person, and most people have limited access to see the rulers behaviours. So it is not that advantageous to be generous then, or particularly kind say, because it isn’t very visible. So if it isn’t providing a lot of benefits, its more advantageous to hold on to more of your resources and money assuming you are simply trying to hold on to as much power as possible for yourself.
It’s also surreal to read this book and view it across the lens of history and the countless examples of power hungry maniacs we’ve experienced over the centuries. When power is your main goal, then power is your main goal. The means of gaining and growing your power are irrelevant and simply come down to making the right political decisions that will best serve you. Even if you do something positive for someone else, it is just a tool to benefit you. Machiavelli says that rulers should not worry about morals. The action a state ruler takes can be moral or immoral, it doesn’t matter. The ruler should be unbiased towards moral or immoral actions and simply choose whatever achieves the states goals.
Machiavelli is also very pessimistic about people in general. He thinks humans are generally wretched and need to be controlled. And he says that there is so little virtue out there, that there is little point in trying to be virtuous because your virtue will just drown in a sea of wretchedness. He says that since people will lie to you, you have no obligation to tell the truth to them either.
He also says that it is better to be feared than loved. Showing leniency to people will cause your destruction because it is a sign of weakness.
He talks a lot about militaries as well and the necessity of war as a way to keep power and control over a states people.
The book was very important and has stood the test of time because it became a foundational work for modern political science. Machiavelli was said to be one of the first to analyze politics purely from a rational or scientific perspective. Like I said, whether you apply or don’t apply his tactics is irrelevant. It still paints a picture of human nature that is thought provoking. It also is grounded in what Machiavelli knew of history and witnessed in the 1500’s renaissance era in which he lived. He gives numerous examples of different princes and rulers within Italy, and mentions others like Alexander the Great for example.
It probably goes without saying, but I vehemently disagree with the literal advice given in this book and its obvious most of our societies do as well. Our economies and societies are built on trust and if we all subscribed to the idea it is ok to lie and deceive people, things would go downhill fast. That isn’t to say I don’t see evidence that people have read this book and taken it literally either. There is no shortage of people purely focused on their own personal gain with little regard for anyone else, and it seems like sometimes those people are even rewarded for it through money, fame, and influence. Let’s also be honest and recognize that we are selfish too and it isn’t the case that we could simply round up all the machiavellian types, tie a rock to them and throw them in a lake and the world would be a better place.
If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn