Machiavelli’s Principals and NAFTA

1544 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Machiavelli's Principles of the Prince

"Therefore if a prince wants to maintain his rule he must learn how not to be virtuous, and to make use of this or not according to his need." 1 Thus wrote Niccolò Machiavelli almost five hundred years ago in his handbook to the Prince Lorenzo De’ Medici. Whether Machiavelli wrote these words in a desperate attempt to win a position as advisor or whether he hoped in truth to trap the prince with false advice we can only guess from afar. Yet his book offers both advice and food for thought for today. In the last chapter of the book he offered a dream for a new Italian Moses, someone to free Italy from foreign control. Whether this was Machiavelli’s passionate dream or simply bait for the prince, we are now embarking on what may well be the opposite: the selling out of our own country to foreigners in the dream of one unified North America. It is exactly what Prime Minister John A. Macdonald called "veiled treason" in 1891. 2 If you, Mr Mulroney, are to continue in this decision Machiavelli’s principals of heartlessness and purpose may be invaluable.

Machiavelli warns when a principality invites a new ruler in, expecting to improve their situation they will likely be disappointed and then rebel against the ruler. In Machiavelli’s time this would have meant a full and bloody rebellion, but think how much easier it is now! The people have only to vote at the election, and do not need to remind you that in the most recent election you had only 43% of the vote. The majority of the people are against you, and this is dangerous.

What is it you promise the people, and can you provide? You need not fear giving your word lightly, and I doubt anyone today truly expects you to keep all your promises. Yet still there must be something for you to offer in the end. "The common people are always impressed by appearances and results. In this way there are only common people, and there is no room for the few when the many are supported by the state." (101)

The immediate problem with NAFTA, as I see it, is a shift in the tax burden from the manufacturers to the people. Retired judge Marjorie Montgomery Bowker has suggested that by 1998, when NAFTA will be fully implemented our lost revenues will be 24 billion.

Show More
Related

  • Machiavelli's The Prince

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    Machiavelli’s, “The Prince” is the ideal book for individuals intending to both govern and maintain a strong nation. Filled with practical advice, he includes numerous religious references to support his claims. He devotes a chapter within the book to speak about the ancient founders of states. In the chapter called, “On new principalities that are acquired by one’s own arms and by virtue”, Machiavelli discussed the importance of a prince to have their own talent in governing a nation, rather than having relied on fortune to rule. The latter is a risk no leader should take and he cited past leaders as a guide for both the current and future princes.

    Read More

  • Maquiladoras & NAFTA

    2053 Words  | 5 Pages

    In addition, Mexicans as well as US citizens will start to demand more accountability from the Mexican government and the Maquiladora industry. They need to be more responsible for their actions. What will the U.S. corporations do when human rights activists and environmentalists start lobbying and protesting on their US sites? Do they want to risk losing their shareholders to this type of negative attention?

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Malcom's 'Dangerous Minds'

    845 Words  | 2 Pages

    This article gives some examples of crimes and how they were solved using a psychology technique along with how criminal profiling is used to solve crimes and how the profilers know how to slim down the suspects. In the first case, there was a man that planted bombs in multiple places each time writing a note in block letters- signing it F.P. The first bomb was found in 1940, in 1954 he struck four times, and in 1955 five times. In

    Read More

  • Changing Interpretations of The Prince and Niccolo Machiavelli

    2647 Words  | 6 Pages

    In recent history, the last fifty years or so, modern businessmen and politicians have given Machiavelli a Renaissance of his own. Professional politicians have written novels they claim to be on the same philosophical level of Machiavelli’s The Prince. Gary Hart, in his book The Patriot: An Exhortation to Liberate America From the Barbarians attempts to update Niccolo to the modern age with his own political philosophies, and attempts to credit Machiavelli by quoting him frequently. “Hart makes an effort to mimic the form, if not the spirit, of the most famous work by his Florentine ‘mentor.’…There is a dedicatory le...

    Read More

  • Discourses on Livy: Republics and the Decemvirate

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    Machiavelli, a political genius, paves a path for us to understand the logic on how to build a successful Republic or bring a Republic to ruin. Machiavelli seems to be neutral on his logic, by this I mean he does not side with only good or bad intentions. He clears this path so anyone can come in and take a Republic and mold it to their liking. The principality, aristocrats, and the popular are good for the republic, but almost inescapably turn wicked. This wickedness caused the decemvirate to form. We will look into the darkness of the decemvirate and show that even when pushed by the people it ended up turning for the worse until it was ruinous for the Roman republic. Eventually the decemvirate shifted the political view back towards the one, the few, and the many.

    Read More

  • Machiavelli On The Iraq War

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    "The Prince," written by Niccolo Machiavelli in 1513, is a political treatise addressed to the Medici family of Florentine. "The Prince" was written to analyze and explain the acquisition, perpetuation, and use of political power in the west. Machiavelli’s theories in the work describe methods that an aspiring prince could possibly use to acquire power, or an existing prince could use to keep power. Though this work was written in 1513 and published in 1532, its context can be applied to foreign policy in today’s world. The principles suggested by Machiavelli provide insight into the issues that arose with the war on Iraq and issues involved with occupation and transition to a new government.

    Read More

  • Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince: A Guide to Being an Effective Ruler

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Prince”, by Niccolo Machiavelli, is a series of letters written to the current ruler of Italy, Lorenzo de’ Medici. These letters are a “how-to” guide on what to do and what not to do. He uses examples to further express his views on the subject. The main purpose was to inform the reader how to effectively rule and be an acceptable Prince. Any ruler who wishes to keep absolute control of his principality must use not only wisdom and skill, but cunning and cruelness through fear rather than love. Machiavelli writes this book as his summary of all the deeds of great men.

    Read More

  • Criminal Profiling

    1761 Words  | 4 Pages

    The process of using behavioral evidence left at a crime scene to make inferences about the offender, including inferences about personality characteristics and psychopathology is called criminal profiling. Around the country, several agencies rely on the minds of criminal psychologists to lead them in the right direction to finding the correct offender. Criminal profiling provides investigators with knowledge of the appearance and behavior of a potential criminal.

    Read More

  • Is Psychological Profiling the Solution to Terrorism?

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    Psychological Profiling is the identification of specific characteristics of an individual who has committed a certain crime using a detailed systematic observational ...

    Read More

  • Exploring the Intricacies of Criminal Profiling

    1363 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the 1960’s, people actually believed that psychology was simple minded and unnecessary, so, becoming a criminal profiler back in the day definitely involved difficulties. Little did Teten and Mullany know that they would change the was law informants works forever. (Susssex Publishers, 1991-2016). Although criminal profiling was not utilized until the 19th century by Dr. Thomas Bond. He wrote a description on the legendary “Jack The Ripper” describing how he may act or look. Even after all of the work he done he or anyone else to this day has been able to find out who Jack the Ripper was.

    Read More

  • Psychological Profiling: The Controversy Of Psychological Profiling

    3963 Words  | 8 Pages

    When it comes to profiling, it is a very controversial tool, although within the past couple decades it has increased in use significantly. One huge controversy is the fact that not a lot of people believe that a hypothetical depiction of a suspect actually helps contribute to solving crimes, however, a lot of the profiles for serial killers in the past have been incredibly accurate. There is, however, a lack of scientific evidence to support these techniques. With the lack of a scientific basis, the question of the validity that profiling brings to investigations arises often. The main issue is that no one knows if they have a good portrait until the suspect is caught.

    Read More

  • Criminal Profiling: Does it Really Work?

    1457 Words  | 3 Pages

    Criminal profiling has become a very popular and controversial topic. Profiling is used in many different ways to identify a suspect or offender in a criminal investigation. “Criminal profiling is the process of using behavioral and scientific evidence left at a crime scene to make inferences about the offender, including inferences about personality characteristics and psychopathology” (Torres, Boccaccini, & Miller, 2006, p. 51). “The science of profiling rests on two foundation blocks, basic forensic science and empirical behavioral research. Forensic science includes blood spatter analysis, crime scene reconstruction, and autopsy evidence. Empirical behavioral research identifies offender typologies, relates crime behaviors to suspect identifiers, and determines base rates” (Cook & Hinman, 1999, p. 239). Criminal profiling is the main subject of many books, television shows, and movies for entertainment purposes, which is why it is typically more fiction than fact. I think that this could be a logical reason as to why criminal profiling is so widely used and why it is largely misunderstood and misinterpreted. Movies and television shows portray criminal profiling as 100% accurate and widely accepted. Profiling is typically shown in cases that involve violent crimes such as murder and rape. Contrary to popular belief, criminal profiling is applied to every type of crime not just murder (Bartol & Bartol, 2012). Most of the studies conducted about criminal profiling focus of those of violent criminals (Cook & Hinman, 1999). With that said, criminal profiling of serial killers has intrigued people more than any other investigative technique. I believe this is because people find murderers more interesting than thieves. The entertai...

    Read More

  • Integrating Personality Psychology in Criminal Profiling

    516 Words  | 2 Pages

    Due to the increase of unorganized and motiveless crimes committed by offenders, the need of assistance with criminal profiling is starting to increase. Criminal profiling by law enforcers is poorly researched and not understood, hence the reason why criminal profiling is considered an art and not a science (McCann, 1992, p. 478). If criminal profiling was to develop into a science, then there were would be a huge demand of assistance from psychologists and mental health professionals in the field of criminal justice. Both fields would have to come together to combine personality with profiling. Most of all the research pertaining to these two topics suggest that profiling relies heavily

    Read More

  • Criminal Profiling

    1821 Words  | 4 Pages

    The process of inferring the personality characteristics of individuals responsible for committing criminal acts has commonly been referred to as criminal profiling. (Turvey) Criminal profiling can also be referred to as, behavioral profiling because when a profiler creates a profile they refer to the behavior of the offender. The general term criminal profiling can also be referred to as crime scene profiling, criminal personality profiling, offender profiling, psychological profiling and criminal investigative analysis. All the terms listed above are used inconsistently and interchangeably. Modern criminal profiling is owing to a diverse history grounded in the study of criminal behavior (criminology), the study of mental illness (psychology and psychiatry), and the examination of physical evidence (the forensic sciences). (Turvey) There are four very important elements that contribute to the making of a criminal profile. These elements are victimology, wound pattern analysis, crime scene characteristics and criminology. Victimology is the study of victims. The profilers ask themselves questions such as, “Why this person?” and “Was the victim related to their killer or attacker?” Wound pattern analysis is the study of the way the wounds on the victim were made. Crime scene characteristics help to the making of a profile by showing profilers what exactly went on during the crime. Criminology is the study of the crime, criminals and criminal behaviors.

    Read More

  • Machiavelli: The Father of Modern Political Science

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the time 1469, a child by the name of Niccolo Di Bernardo Del Machiavelli was born .Some may know him as an Italian philosopher, humanist, or a evil minded fellow associated with the corruptness of totalitarian government. In Machiavelli’s home state Florence, he introduces the modern political theory. Hoping to gain influence with the ruling Medici family Niccolo wrote a pamphlet call The Prince (Prezzolini).

    Read More

More about Machiavelli’s Principals and NAFTA

Open Document