I first read Machiavelli’s The Prince as assigned reading for a sophomore history class in high school. I remember being surprised at enjoying it. It’s basically a pamphlet how-to for princes and rulers, and often values cold pragmatism over morality. I don’t remember if I found it particularly shocking the first time around, but I definitely didn’t the second, perhaps because I’m too desensitized. Or perhaps my brain is too sociopathically Machiavellian in theory while I’m a softy in practice.
How to review such a book? It’s not particularly relevant in my life. I have absolutely no desire to rule. Once, when asked what I would do first if I were president, I said I would appoint someone else to be president. The person who asked called me lame. But the book is obviously of historical importance. While reading, I kept being reminded of the TV show “Reign” about the Queen of Scots, so that was a fun little cross-reference between fiction and non-fiction. And it’s so boldly and confidently confessional about the false and insincere world of politics. It’s like peeking behind the curtain into a world I have no interest in being part of but is so full of drama and deceit (both of which Machiavelli transparently promotes).
The main tenets Machiavelli upholds are:
- Always ensure you are the most powerful by establishing yourself as the protector of weaker nations and demolishing stronger ones
- Be proactive in doing 1) because it will come back to bite you in the butt if you don’t. War can never be avoided so you might as well be the aggressor. In fact, war should occupy your thoughts daily even in times of peace. If no trouble arises, create it so people can see you victorious
- Your own personal army is much better than mercenaries or auxiliaries since the former has a vested interest in winning
- The position of a sole ruler is harder to obtain but easier to keep. Allowing smaller rulers or separate governing bodies (or inherited nobility) will always be obstacles that have to be contented or controlled
- In order to gain control over a nation accustomed to a prior government, you first have to destroy it
- Ends justify the means. When inflicting injury on your own nation, do it quickly and do not repeat. The absence of injury will later reassure them. Move forward with benefits rather than oppression, and they will forget
- Content the most powerful body in your nation (usually the people, but occasionally soldiers or nobility) and ensure they always need you
- It does not matter if you are always good as long as you appear to be. In fact, you must balance and be able to call upon both good and evil natures within yourself as appropriate. Unvirtuous conduct is inevitable when you rule effectively, and you should not bother to keep your word if the outcome of doing so will be unfavorable to you
- It’s far safer to be feared than to be loved. Love is fickle; fear rules men and keeps them more obedient more easily. But you must always avoid being hated
- Do not be neutral but pick sides when your neighbors are fighting. If you maintain neutrality, the victor will turn on you and you will not have the vanquished as an ally
Machiavelli also goes into the nitty gritty and uses multiple historical figures as examples. It’s a great book to use as required reading for a history class. I think it’s most enjoyable the first time reading it, and reading it while you’re still young, because it’s more juicy and unexpected.
