Reflection 2

The best way to learn about a subject is always to study every viewpoint. Of course, everyone pretty much knew where they stood in terms of Machiavelli- emotions ranged from undying love to ambivalence to disgust at an “amoral culture”. The side I (unknowingly) ended up on dictated that Machiavelli was correct in his political dealings, and he was accurate in his methodology. Our strongest point came from his infamous idea: if people believe that you have their best interest in mind, you can deceive them for a set amount of time. The strongest point of conflict arose when the issue of pragmatism was brought up- is choosing sides truly pragmatic? Those in favor of Machiavelli argued that it was, but the argument that arose was strongly in favor of remaining on the fence brought up the question of political stagnation, and the cultivation of new ideas primarily arises from the emergence of ingenuity and innovation.
The concluding point of our discussion was possibly the strongest, and made me think the hardest about Machiavelli in today’s times. Because of how much the world has changed since the time of The Prince, the world and the politico-economic systems are forced to change along with it. If there is media attention that is forcing a political leader to act a certain way, and there is international scrutiny- I see Machiavelli accounting for all of those factors in his writing, and assuming that a leader will become something of a chameleon, and change along with the world around him or her. In Machiavelli’s eyes, as long as the end justifies the means, everything is in order. In other words, stability plays a vital role in determining how and in which way a leader should act, and by the end of class, the main new idea I left with revolved around the Machiavellian leader changing his or her policies accordingly to maintain stability.