Reflection

When I read Machiavelli’s “The Prince,” I found a lot of it really hard to like, but I also had to concede that he had a lot of practical, realistic advice, even though the text dates back to over 500 years ago. I liked that he continually talked about the “stability” of the nation, because that leads to the safety of many of his citizens, but I had serious issues with the fact that Machiavelli continually looked down upon his citizens and refused to give them any amount of respect.

One of the more fascinating topics in the book, for me, was Machiavelli’s compassion vs. cruelty argument. He writes, “… a ruler ought not to mind the disgrace of being called cruel, if he keeps his subjects peaceful and law-abiding, for it is more compassionate to impose harsh punishments on a few than, out of excessive compassion, to allow disorder to spread, which leads to murders or looting” (Machiavelli 51). In essence, he is arguing that too much compassion turns into cruelty because it leads to instability, while the right amount of cruelty keeps the citizens in line.

So where does this fit in with America? Do we impose “cruelty” on a select few in order to keep the general populace in line? Or are we too compassionate? On news programs every morning, there is a great deal of horrible, shocking crimes. Does the prevalence of these crimes imply too much so-called “compassion?” The murder rate in Washington DC stood at 186 people in 2008. The forcible rape statistic was the same – 186 people. On the flip side, the death penalty seems to be the ultimate act of “cruelty” that would keep the general populace in order.

Ultimately, I think Machiavelli’s lack of faith in fellow humans is the downfall in his argument. He constantly brings up the fact that the citizens cannot be trusted, because they are “ungrateful, fickle, deceptive and deceiving, avoiders of danger, eager to gain” (52). He truly believes that he has to condition behavior into his subjects through fear, and that this is the only way the nation will succeed. But he never takes into account the fact that most people crave stability and consistency, and the majority of people are not sociopaths who steal and kill. Machiavelli was certainly not someone who would ever believe this, but I’m glad that leaders in America are aware of this.