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Niccolò Machiavelli |
A diplomat,
philosopher, author, and historian, Machiavelli lived during the Italian
Renaissance and is best known as the author of The Prince.1
In that book, Machiavelli enunciated his ideas about
what it takes to be a ruler and/or leader in those times. He has been called
the ‘Father of political philosophy.’ His writings, especially The Prince,
became foundation stones of politics from his time onwards. We still see his
ideas played out in the actions of rulers all around the world today.
Male leaders in particular aim to be seen as tough,
uncompromising, and decisive. All qualities that Machiavelli would have
admired. Of course, female leaders have also attempted to rule in likewise
manners. The UK’s Margaret Thatcher comes to mind; she wasn’t nicknamed the Iron
Lady for nothing.
When Machiavelli was writing The Prince
sometime around 1513 (although not published until 1532 – 5 years after his
death) Italy was divided into a number of kingdoms, duchies, republics, and
states – notably the Kingdom of Naples, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of
Florence, the Papal States, and the Kingdom of Sicily. These various regions
were constantly forming and unforming alliances and attacking one another.
Machiavelli’s attempts then to summarise and define
the qualities of a leader under those circumstances becomes obvious. His
intention was to provide leaders with means by which they could maintain their
position of authority.
When viewed at from this distance, five centuries
later, Machiavelli may not deserve his legacy,
However, as with so much, context is everything.
Let us consider a few of Machiavelli’s statements. The
best-known Machiavellian maxim is the end justifies the means. For
centuries this statement has enjoyed an almost self-obvious truthfulness about
it. Yet, it is unhelpful and flawed. A whole systems understanding of the world
and how it works recognises that ends and means are not discrete
events but, rather, describe portions of the same continuous whole. Mahatma
Gandhi, for instance, asserts that ‘means are ends in the making.’
In today’s highly connected, and increasingly
polarised, this Machiavellian axiom is extremely unhelpful.
Some lesser-known statements from The Prince
include: 1. ‘A leader mustn’t worry about being labelled cruel when it is a
question of keeping his subjects loyal and united.’ 2. ‘It is a natural
and ordinary desire to acquire.’ 3. ‘Is it better to be loved rather
than feared?... since they don’t go together easily, if you have to choose,
it’s much safer to be feared than loved.’ 4. ‘…fortune is female and if
you want to stay on top of her you have to slap and thrust.’
Each of these statements, when applied in today’s
world, tend only to exacerbate polarisation, violence, and hatred. The fourth
of these statements, although Machiavelli was using it metaphorically (applying
his comment to fortune) it does display the manner in which women were
treated at that time. Today this would be outright misogyny.
Within our cultural psyche we tend to pay more
attention to negative thoughts than towards positive ones. This negativity
bias is an evolutionary adaptation. Our survival once was more guaranteed
if we paid greater attention to perceived threats than if we ignored them (and
even more so if we paid attention to the juicy fruit hanging from the tree
instead!)
Thus it is with Machiavelli’s writings. We pay more
attention to his negative expressions, even though circumstances have changed.
Consequently, with Machiavelli’s writing being still
quoted and applied to positions of leadership today, we must view Machiavelli’s
negative legacy as deserving.
In other words, the word machiavellian remains
a synonym for cruelty, misogyny, deceit, manipulation, despotism, violence, and
fear.
Sadly, leaders and rulers of today keep listening to
the advice of Machiavelli.
Notes:
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