3 ms·

What advice did Machiavelli have?

• devjam 3y ago
  From the Wikipedia entry: > After his death Machiavelli's name came to evoke unscrupulous acts of the sort he advised most famously in his work, The Prince. He claimed that his experience and reading of history showed him that politics have always been played with deception, treachery, and crime. He also notably said that a ruler who is establishing a kingdom or a republic, and is criticized for his deeds, including violence, should be excused when the intention and the result are beneficial to him.
• hobs 3y ago
  Murder them and take their power.
• jonchurch_ 3y ago
  He didn't so far as I can tell. He wrote The Prince for an audience of rulers, both new and established, aiming to preserve or reinforce their power. But to be charitable bc that is basically a nit, he would have advised a calculated approach to wielding political influence or instilling fear. He was partial to creating alliances with the adversaries, circumventing them, or otherwise coercing them into agreeing with your priorities. He was the “Its better to be feared not loved, if you can’t do both” guy so GP is right when they say his advice here would not be kind. Its because his methods are not really what you want to use to make a better environment at work. Ironically, I think all the problems Machiavelli was concerned with were “people problems”, but he wasn’t concerned with fixing them, just doing whatever it takes to maintain stability for a given ruler.