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Machiavelli on arming the population
From chapter 20 of The Prince. The first two sections are directly relevant. ..http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince20.htm The Prince (published in 1513) was well-known when the US was being founded. Joe Gwinn |
Machiavelli on arming the population
On Sun, 06 Sep 2015 15:02:25 -0400, Joe Gwinn
wrote: From chapter 20 of The Prince. The first two sections are directly relevant. .http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince20.htm The Prince (published in 1513) was well-known when the US was being founded. Hear, Hear! -- I hate being bipolar ....... It's awesome! |
Machiavelli on arming the population
On Mon, 07 Sep 2015 06:54:06 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote: On Sun, 06 Sep 2015 15:02:25 -0400, Joe Gwinn wrote: From chapter 20 of The Prince. The first two sections are directly relevant. .http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince20.htm The Prince (published in 1513) was well-known when the US was being founded. Hear, Hear! Before you get all excited, you should read the entire book. It's about how to manipulate a population so a monarch can run it peacefully and successfully. For example, the "arm the people" idea applied only to certain circumstances. In others, Machiavelli's recomendation was to disarm them all -- if you can't use them for cannon fodder, keep them intimidated. If you think about what he's saying, you won't be so enthusiastic. It's all about how to manipulate people like you. -- Ed Huntress |
Machiavelli on arming the population
In article , Ed Huntress
wrote: On Mon, 07 Sep 2015 06:54:06 -0700, Larry Jaques wrote: On Sun, 06 Sep 2015 15:02:25 -0400, Joe Gwinn wrote: From chapter 20 of The Prince. The first two sections are directly relevant. .http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince20.htm The Prince (published in 1513) was well-known when the US was being founded. Hear, Hear! Before you get all excited, you should read the entire book. It's about how to manipulate a population so a monarch can run it peacefully and successfully. True - it's good advice on how to be a successful Prince. This is realpolitic, long before democracy reached Italy. For example, the "arm the people" idea applied only to certain circumstances. In others, Machiavelli's recomendation was to disarm them all -- if you can't use them for cannon fodder, keep them intimidated. While I'll grant that The Prince is pretty ruthless, it's a whole lot more nuanced than that. If you think about what he's saying, you won't be so enthusiastic. It's all about how to manipulate people like you. By all means read the whole thing. It's not all that long, and it's more often misapplied or misquoted than read. It's still in print, 500 years later. How many books can claim that? Joe Gwinn |
Machiavelli on arming the population
On Mon, 07 Sep 2015 10:48:04 -0400, Joe Gwinn
wrote: In article , Ed Huntress wrote: On Mon, 07 Sep 2015 06:54:06 -0700, Larry Jaques wrote: On Sun, 06 Sep 2015 15:02:25 -0400, Joe Gwinn wrote: From chapter 20 of The Prince. The first two sections are directly relevant. .http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince20.htm The Prince (published in 1513) was well-known when the US was being founded. Hear, Hear! Before you get all excited, you should read the entire book. It's about how to manipulate a population so a monarch can run it peacefully and successfully. True - it's good advice on how to be a successful Prince. This is realpolitic, long before democracy reached Italy. For example, the "arm the people" idea applied only to certain circumstances. In others, Machiavelli's recomendation was to disarm them all -- if you can't use them for cannon fodder, keep them intimidated. While I'll grant that The Prince is pretty ruthless, it's a whole lot more nuanced than that. Sure. But how much nuance can you introduce to someone who hasn't even read it? g Isaiah Berlin, one of the most sophisticated critics of Machiavelli, says that there is "over a score" of substantial critiques and interpretations by authoritative sources. His writing remains shocking and a dilemma for modern western readers. Lofting a few quotes about arming a populace is about as dumbed-down a misunderstanding as we'll see. If you think about what he's saying, you won't be so enthusiastic. It's all about how to manipulate people like you. By all means read the whole thing. It's not all that long, and it's more often misapplied or misquoted than read. It's still in print, 500 years later. How many books can claim that? Joe Gwinn |
Machiavelli on arming the population
On Mon, 07 Sep 2015 10:48:04 -0400
Joe Gwinn wrote: It's still in print, 500 years later. How many books can claim that? The Bible, basically the same general purpose... -- Leon Fisk Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b Remove no.spam for email |
Machiavelli on arming the population
Joe Gwinn wrote:
In article , Ed Huntress wrote: On Mon, 07 Sep 2015 06:54:06 -0700, Larry Jaques wrote: On Sun, 06 Sep 2015 15:02:25 -0400, Joe Gwinn wrote: From chapter 20 of The Prince. The first two sections are directly relevant. .http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince20.htm The Prince (published in 1513) was well-known when the US was being founded. Hear, Hear! Before you get all excited, you should read the entire book. It's about how to manipulate a population so a monarch can run it peacefully and successfully. True - it's good advice on how to be a successful Prince. This is realpolitic, long before democracy reached Italy. Democracy was in force in Rome in various times from 300BC. -- http://www.historytoday.com/john-north/democracy-rome -- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demo...Roman_Republic |
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