Politics And Political Criticism In Machiavelli's The Prince

Machiavelli’s, “The Prince” marks the turning point in history, the origin of the study of politics and critical thinking. The Prince, is a handbook or an instruction manual for all rulers to use and to successfully rule a kingdom or state. Machiavelli wrote this during a time where modern day Italy was not unified. It was divided into small republics or kingdoms, which were constantly at war with each other. These republics were either in control of the church or rich families. Machiavelli originally wrote ‘The Prince” for Lorenzo Di Piero De Medici” of the Medici family that ruled Florence at the time. It was an attempt to come in his good graces, which was very ‘Machiavellian’ of him. During his lifetime Machiavelli observed many Politicians

He talks about reality, the state of the nation at present and how to fix and improve it. He does not discuss about a Utopia, a place where ‘what ifs’ prevail. This Utopia does not exist and cannot exist but Machiavelli discusses about ‘what is’, he calls this the effectual truth which is a modern concept. Machiavelli discussed political realism. Political realism is the theory of political philosophy that attempts to explain, model and prescribe political relations. It takes as its assumption that power is (or ought to be) the primary end of political action, whether in the domestic or international arena. In the Prince, Machiavelli sets out to express the effectual truth of politics. To understand politics, one must first understand human nature. Machiavelli came to the conclusion that human beings are selfish creatures who are governed by their own self-interests “Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.” He warns about humanity and about the dangers about doing good all the time, he describes this world as place where you must do what you have to, to survive. He knows and understands that people take advantage of others and set traps for them, to avoid them he writes about the Lion and the Fox, “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.”

A prince must do what is necessary. A leader must do what is required for the safety of his/her place, or nation, even if it is not an easy thing to do. The death of Osama Bin Laden, one of the most wanted terrorists in the world was killed by The United States Seal team. He was responsible for the plane crashes into the twin towers in September 2001 and was a major threat to America. The mission was supervised by the President, Obama. No one was aware that the mission was underway, not even the Pakistani officials. After the mission was successful and Osama was killed. Pictures of the mission were released. One pictured showed Obama with his national security staff, including Hilary Clinton. They were watching a live feed of the mission in the control room. It was a very Machiavellian moment for Obama. Machiavelli states, “A political leader taking the ultimate risks that go with the exercise of power now awaiting the judgement of fate. He knows that if the mission fails, his rule or presidency is over, while if he succeeds no one will ever question his willingness to take risks again. It was also Machiavellian in sense that in that moments when public necessity required action that ethics and religious values might condemn as immoral and unjust. Machiavelli understood that there is a gap between private conscience and the demands of the public. Thus we cannot condemn Obama since he did what