However immoral The Prince may be, Niccolò Machiavelli’s handbook on preserving power continues to ring true as his teachings flourish in the hands of businesses, politicians, and leaders worldwide. Take Donald J. Trump, an esteemed businessman and television personality who has emulated Machiavelli’s prince in his first year as president. He appeared humane, compassionate, trustworthy, honest, and religious which twisted him into a political prince set to protect his power. Although, if one truly practices these virtues, remaining in office will be out of the question. Likewise, The Prince states, “a ruler, especially a ruler new to power, can't always behave in ways that would make people think a man good, because to stay in power he's frequently …show more content…
Lacking trustworthiness, Trump’s ability to be reliable tanks as he breaks his promises. Listening to Machiavelli’s advice, it is not important for a leader to keep his word, as a sensible leader must not keep his word if he puts himself at risk, and if the reasons that made him give his word in the first place are no longer valid (71). As a candidate, Trump promised to help the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, but what he essentially did was hurt the Dreamers, making the decision to end DACA. Thus, President Trump takes pride in wearing this crown, his authority techniques prove this as he plays the role of America’s Machiavellian prince; his commands seem compassionate, but he cannot be trusted because he breaks his promises. In the words of Machiavelli, who is also nicknamed the Father of Modern Political Science, a ruler will always find good excuses to break his promise. Staying in key with The Prince, Trump has no need to worry while he continues to remain supreme as he looks compassionate, religious and …show more content…
As The Prince has said, “Everyone will appreciate how admirable it is for a ruler to keep his word and be honest rather than deceitful” (71). Trump has kept his word and has been trustworthy for most of his candidacy. But, behind closed doors, it was revealed that Trump was actually just keeping a few of his words. According to The Washington Post, Trump revealed highly classified information. Former U.S. Officials said, “Trump’s disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic state” (Greg & Greg). With President Trump to reveal the classified information to the Russian Prime minister and ambassador, it has been questioned if Trump is trustworthy. It has also been stated in The Washington Post, that “The partner had not given the United States permission to share the material with Russia, and Officials said, Trump’s decision to do so endangers cooperation from an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic state,” (Greg & Greg). If the state was not given permission by the partners to reveal to the closest allies, the fact Trump could reveal such classified information is shocking. As The Prince has also stated, “A ruler who just plays the lion and forgets the Fox doesn’t know what he’s doing,” (71) This statement proves true in Trump’s case. Without the advisory of the state, how could the
Many empirical things can often still be debated and refuted by experts, but there is a general admittance to the idea that power is the root of many evil things. In all fairness, we must admit that a many evil things can in their essence, be great. And that is one of the many theories advanced by Niccolo Machiavelli in his well-known work, The Prince. The Prince serves a dual purpose of both teaching a person how to attain power, but also how to retain it. Incredibly enough, history has proven most of Machiavelli’s findings and theories to work well, while some have failed to effectively secure power for the rulers who did, in fact try them. His work, does obviously highlight one main fact, which is, that power is a well sought-after attribute, and most who attain are willing to do whatever is necessary to keep it.
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.
The 16th century novella The Prince by Niccoló Machiavelli discoursed on politics and set standardized methods of obtaining and maintaining power in varying situations. Despite Machiavelli using historical and dated examples to fortify his claims, the ideology behind his novella has held true for the past 500 years. The Prince on several occasions discusses the power struggle between the nobility and the common people; the situation in the United States differs from Machiavelli’s model in that wealthy groups and individuals compete for political influence at the expense of the voice of the nation’s citizens. Special interest groups, particularly large corporations, relentlessly lobby Congress to support legislation that benefits a small handful of individuals. Politicians operate on receiving large campaign donations in order to maintain political power and their exorbitant salary. The Prince supports that a leader who sides with the most powerful faction will enjoy greater
Throughout the years many rulers and princes have strived to be the best. The book some believe set the standards for a prince is Niccolo Machiavelli's "The Morals of a Prince." Machiavelli states "Hence it is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity" proving that he believes it vital for a prince to know wrong in order to thrive and flourish (Machiavelli 331). Machiavelli undoubtedly has key points that reveal his feelings about being a successful, wrong prince. However, at times his ideology can be rather harsh.
Machiavelli believes a prince should know how to be a fox. A fox has been known to be deceptive, sly, cunning, sneaky, crafty, and many other adjectives. These are attributes that Machiavelli believes that a good prince would hold within himself to be able to rule, and in addition to, keeping his reigning power. Machiavelli explains within the text of, The Prince, that rulers have to seem as if they have the best intentions for the people, but secretly the highest priority is to keep himself in power and to protect his dominion. This being the priority of the prince, he has to deceive his subjects into believing he is best fit to rule. To keep up with this deception that the prince uses, morality cannot be a priority that the prince carries.
Machiavelli writes in The Qualities of the Prince, that it is better to be a miser and slightly disliked for a while than to be generous and be liked for a while than hated. If you’re a generous prince you can only be so for a short time before having to raise taxes and having people realize that you’re not that generous in all reality. Once a prince gets a reputation for being hated he will feel any slight unrest of his people. On the other hand if a prince is miserly from the get go he will be received gratefully when he decides to be generous. Using this quality of miserliness he has the ability to expand and defend his kingdom and be ready for any unforeseen events without having to burden his people, which, in turn leads to economic growth.
Niccolo Machiavelli lived in Florence, Italy in the 1400’s. The country of Italy was divided into city-states that had their own leaders, but all pledged alliance to their king. In time in which great leaders were needed in order to help the development of a city-state and country, Machiavelli had a theory that man needed a leader to control them. In his book The Prince, he speaks of the perfect leader.
“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.
Machiavelli in his famous book “The Prince” describes the necessary characteristics for a strong and successful leader. He believes that one of the most important characteristics is to rule in favor of his government and to hold power in his hands. Power is an essential aspect of Machiavelli’s theory, and a leader should do whatever it takes to keep it for the safety of his country because “the ends justifies the means.” To attain and preserve the power, a leader should rather be feared than loved by his people, but it is vital not to be hated. As he states, “anyone compelled to choose will find far greater security in being feared than in being loved.” If a leader is feared, the people are less likely to revolt, and in the end, only a threat of punishment can guarantee obedienc...
In The Prince, Machiavelli discusses morality and ethics concerning secular powers, specifically principalities and secular government. On the other hand, Erasmus discusses the role of morality and personal ethics with regards to religious institutions, specifically the church. While both address different institutions, both express similar viewpoints on many issues. Both agree that personal ethics and morals run thin in the institutions. However, while Machiavelli attempts to completely decouple the actions of good rulers from personal ethics, Erasmus argues that the church has lost track of its original principles down the line.
Niccoló Machiavelli claims in “The Qualities of the Prince” that a prince must have certain qualities that will allow him to seize and maintain his power as a ruler. Machiavelli asserts that these qualities will guarantee the ruler to be able to govern his subjects effectively. According to him, a prince must study the art of war, must understand generosity and to what extent he must be generous to be effective, must choose to either be loved or feared, and be able to keep his word to his citizens according to the situation. These qualities can still apply in today’s politics, and will be useful for a modern time politician as long as they are used carefully.
It is commonly believed by both lay people and political philosophers alike that an authoritative figure is good and just so long as he or she acts in accordance with various virtues. If the actions of a ruler are tailored toward the common good of the people rather than himself, then that ruler is worthy of occupying the status of authority. By acting in accordance with social and ethical norms, the ruler is deemed worthy of respect and authority. Niccolò Machiavelli challenges our moral intuitions about moral authority in his work, the Prince, by ruthlessly defending the actions made by the state in an effort to preserve power. In particular, all actions made by the state are done in order to preserve its power, and preserving the state’s power preservers its people. In doing so, whatever actions the state exercises are justified with this end goal in mind. Although such reasoning may seem radical, it is practice more readily that most people are inclined to believe. Machiavelli's moral philosophy is deeply embedded in the present day justice administration. Due to this, Machiavelli’s political thought can serve as a reference for illustrating how today’s administrators can benefit from following the examples of other great leaders, such as on matters of global warming.
Machiavelli is “a crystal-clear realist who understands the limits and uses of power.” -- Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jared Diamond (2013)
Through the perspective of Niccolo Machiavelli, the importance of realistic goals, plans, and attacks are clearly described in his book “The Prince.” A ruler’s biggest concern is security, the state’s ability to protect itself, and practicality, not morality, needs to be the priority. 1 A ruler must be able to frame to their people an immoral actions as necessary action as moral Morality is only a goal as it pertains to appearance to his people not through the reality of his actions Machiavelli was exceptionally clear how little he values Christian morality in principalities.
The role of a strong leader The philosophy of Machiavelli in his book the Prince is simply acknowledging the incompatibility of ethics and successful governance of a state. He breaks the barrier between how we “ought” to behave and how we actually behaving. In this article , I will look into Machiavelli's key points of views on vices and ethics , I will consider and compare his ideologies on morality of the Prince with our present world, to our everyday life and to what we sees our on government's national policies and foreign policies. with these I will be able to argue on whether I agree with some of his point of view or not