Machiavellian Kindness
"Cruel to be kind" is a cliche often used in modern society. It suggests using rather harsh means in order to accomplish benevolent ends. For example a parent grounds his or her child for a month after the child is caught smoking. The child thinks the punishment austere, but the parent inflicted the penalty to show the child that smoking is unhealthy and that he or she is breaking the law. Niccolo Machiavelli wrote "The Qualities of the Prince" to demonstrate how a ruler should rule and be successful doing so. He asserts that the prince (or ruler) must use questionable means to be an effective ruler and that a successful ruler exhibits questionable or nearly corrupt qualities. Three of these qualities are making one's only profession war, miserliness, and deceitfulness. Machieavelli's values of a successful prince (or ruler) sound remarkably similar to those equated with modern day politicians. The values he praises, however, are seen as faults and would not lead a politician to success presently. "A prince, therefore, must not have any other object nor any other thought, nor must he take anything as his profession but war, its institutions, and its disciplines...(Jacobus 35)." Machiavelli first states that war is very i
"In our times we have not seen great deeds accomplished except by those who were considered miserly... (Jacobus 39)." Machiavelli presents compelling arguments as to the success of his qualities. However, presently each of those values are despised by the majority of the American public. It scorns war, it detests miserliness, and it abhors deceit (perhaps this one above all). Therefore, we see that Machiavelli's qualities would not lead a present day politician to success. The ideal leader is an honest and thrifty man who can fight his battles without the use of force. These characteristics apparently lead few men to successful leadership in the time of Machiavelli. However, One cannot expect things to be the same in this era as they were when Machiavelli lived, but there are some interesting parallels that present themselves when his words are analyzed. "One sees from the experience of our times that the princes who have accomplished great deeds are those who have cared little for keeping their promises and who have known how to manipulate the minds of men by shrewdness; and in the end they have surpassed those who laid their foundations upon honesty (Jacobus 43)." Thrift is considered a virtue while miserliness
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Qualities Prince, , Bedford Books, Niccolo Machiavelli, politician success, qualities prince, majority american, prince ruler, profession war, lead politician,
Approximate Word count = 831
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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