Learning from Machiavelli (Obama)

JoongAng Daily ^ | 10/14/2013 | Park Bo-gyoon

[TexGrill]

Niccolo Machiavelli had been a revolutionist. He challenged traditional thought and order. He emancipated politics and ruling power from religion and moral philosophy. He delved into the mechanism behind power and human nature. What he discovered and bared was hypocrisy and deceitfulness in power and darkness and two-facedness in human nature. His empirical findings were turned into a literary masterpiece, “The Prince,” written in 1513. The Roman Catholic Church banned the book and labeled him a teacher of evil.

Machiavelli willingly chose to play the bad guy with the book, making “Machiavellian” synonymous with deceit, tyranny and manipulation for personal advantage. In any pursuit of political idealism of goodness and competency there emerges a Machiavellian leader.

“The Prince” has inspired politicians in the modern age. The author’s ideas on attaining and preserving honor and power had enormous influence on political leaders. The extreme pupils were Benito Mussolini and Antonio Gramsci. The two stood at opposite ends of the ideological axis in 20th-century Italy - the former a flag-bearer of Fascism and the latter of Communism.

Mussolini delved into Machiavelli before and after receiving a doctorate, examining lessons from “The Prince.” Gramsci analyzed Machiavelli in a new light. His theory of cultural hegemony, or the exercise or control of intellectual and moral leadership through alliance with various forces for social revolution of the working class, served as guidance to the left-wing in Korean society of the 1980s. Their interpretation of the text, however, was not what the author intended. Both leaders used the text to apply and justify their political ends.

[TexGrill]

Global business tip

[Maceman]

The two stood at opposite ends of the ideological axis in 20th-century Italy - the former a flag-bearer of Fascism and the latter of Communism.

Opposite ends of the political spectrum, my butt! More like opposite ends of the Progressive political spectrum. The difference between fascism and communism is like the difference between horse manure and bull manure -- it's still manure.