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membership using my link in the
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description what does it mean to be
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respected is fear or love more effective
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what does it mean to lead and be led
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what is success and goodness in a world
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filled with malice and ambiguity these
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questions along with many more were
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asked in attempted to be answered by one
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of the most revolutionary political
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philosophers in history Nicolo makavelli
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makaveli's work attempted to dismantle
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the very ideas of goodness cruelty
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leadership and power he is now often
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regarded as one of History's first true
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pragmatists and the father of modern
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political science regardless of any
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universal truth to his ideas or lack
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thereof regardless of his intentions and
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regardless of One's Own interpretations
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of his work there is much to learn from
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makavelli both in terms of what to do
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and what not to do in
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life macelli was born in Florence Italy
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in 1469 his father was a doctor of law
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with a largely unsuccessful practice
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likely more important to mlli story than
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his father's profession was his father's
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propensity toward reading particularly
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that of Greek authors which Expos
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Machiavelli to a library of books and
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the habit of reading this would surely
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play a role in laying the groundwork for
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his later perceptiveness and
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sensibilities A's later philosophy can
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also be largely attributed to the
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political conditions of Florence during
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his lifetime in the 15th century the
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Republic of Florence was riddled with
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conflicts and Chaos often leading to
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dysfunction insecurity violence and
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tyranny there were coups deceit
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assassinations and power struggles popes
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waged Wars and alliances constantly
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changed most importantly the political
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and social events of Renaissance
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Florence displayed a clear Divergence
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from the ideal and intentions they seem
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to claim or be built on ideals of
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Christianity like kindness and humility
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how things were supposed to be always
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seemed to fall to the feet of how things
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actually were appearances were often
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facades religious and ethical ideals
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were often Shields used to cover the
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undermining devious nature of those who
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held them in early adulthood Maki
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experienced the government of Florence
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firsthand when he was impressively
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appointed to the second Chancery around
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14 94 where he then received several
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position advancements and by the age of
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29 obtained the role of secretary which
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put him in charge of the Republic's
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foreign affairs in 1512 however the
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Florentine Republic was overthrown and a
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family of bankers and rulers known as
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the medich family took back rule of
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Florence having previously ruled for
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many years before losing power after a
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failed peace treaty with France once
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back in rule the medi family suspected
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that makavelli was participating in a
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conspiracy against them which resulted
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in him being tortured and then exiled
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from
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Florence in Exile Maki would produce his
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two major Works The Prince and
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discourses on living by far macelli is
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most known for the prince which was
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written around 1513 and then later
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published in 1532 though there are
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several ways one can interpret machi's
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intention with this work at least in
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part it was written as a gift for
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Lorenzo deichi the prince of Florence at
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the time likely in an effort to gain his
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favor and employment
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broadly the prince reads like an
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instruction manual an instruction manual
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for how a prince should rule in order to
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be effective crucially in the prince
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Effectiveness blankets over all other
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goals and parameters makeli appears
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solely focused on Effectiveness above
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everything above goodness above virtue
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above loyalty above honesty and so on
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ultimately the prince articulates a
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largely aoral strategy for rulers and it
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weaves a sort of web of information to
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be used to catch others and hold on to
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power with like how a spider might
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regard a fly merely as a meal the prince
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seems to suggest that a ruler ought to
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regard their enemies anyone who gets in
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their way or anyone who they deem must
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be devoured just the same as the fly the
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work is so extraordinarily dark cynical
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and pessimistic it was banned by the
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Catholic church for centuries and one
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prominent Cardinal by the name of
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Reginal pole wrote I had scarcely begun
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to read the book when I recognized the
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finger of Satan it's aw author is an
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enemy of the human race ironically
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Banning the book might itself have been
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resemblant of a Mach ellian
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tactic around and following
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Machiavelli's time princes and rulers
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were generally considered good largely
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based on their adherence to the moral
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principles of Christianity honesty
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meekness forgiveness loyalty and so on
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makavelli however couldn't help but
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notice and get hung up on where these
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principles were derived from the story
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of Jesus Christ a story in which a man
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was humiliated rejected arrested tried
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and crucified from a practical human
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perspective this was not a story of
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Triumph but a story of defeat and
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ineffectiveness most rulers after all
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don't get resurrected literally or
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metaphorically makavelli could see the
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same story of defeat and ineffectiveness
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unfold with leaders merchants and
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individuals in general who followed suit
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in such ideals so-called good Statesmen
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or Merchants tended to lose to those who
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pretended to be good and then used any
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number of malicious tactics when they
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needed to in order to serve themselves
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and so rather than meekness in the name
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of goodness makavelli believed a good
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successful leader was one who maintained
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their power and forged a stable secure
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Nation at essentially all costs and by
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whatever means necessary those who are
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at least willing to be immoral or amoral
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in their decisions and actions As
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Leaders tended to accomplish the goals
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and duties of a leader more often and
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more powerfully at least during this
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time and at least in the eyes of
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makavelli one of the central ideas of
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maki's view on Effectiveness was respect
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and for him respect was safest and most
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likely to be sustained by fear as
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opposed to love or hatred to be clear
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it's not that being loved was bad in the
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mind of makavelli but rather in his own
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words upon this a question arises
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whether it be better to be loved than
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feared or feared than loved one should
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wish to be both but because it is
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difficult to unite them in one person it
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is much safer to be feared than loved
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fear in other words is hard for
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individuals to overlook and overcome and
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it is easy to instill and control love
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alternatively is volatile unpredictable
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and hard to control people can somewhat
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easily change the orientation and
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intensity of their love for any number
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of reasons hatred however is worse than
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both one's appearance as a leader must
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always be favorable and one's method of
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achieving this should be by finding the
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equilibrium of respect by balancing out
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both reward and Punishment tension and
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alleviation of course hopefully without
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needing to be said at this point taken
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at face value the ideas contained in the
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prints are extremely questionable even
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from a somewhat tempered charitable view
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of these ideas and putting aside machi's
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potential reasoning for creating his
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works there are abundant criticisms of
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the ideas and Views consider what Fodor
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doeski observed and warned about
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hundreds of years later in his book
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Crime and Punishment with his character
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rodon rosanov who is purely rational
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istic and nihilistic and uses whatever
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methods he can to get ahead and serve
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himself but ultimately ends up being
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deprived and tormented by this view
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consider Emanuel kant's categorical
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imperative with which he argues that
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moral actions must always be based on
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principles that consider and serve how
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everyone should act and would want to
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live not based on individual outcomes
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circumstances or subjective desires and
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perhaps most convincingly consider the
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very foundations of General morality and
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goodness which suggest that in order to
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live in a good world we each must act in
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accordance to how we would want the
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world to be how we would want others to
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act and treat us if we all go around
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clawing over each other to get to the
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top of the pile there will be no pile
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left and if there is there will be
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nothing worthwhile to see from the top
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what is power in a world of ruins what
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is prosperity without the unbridled and
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unconcerned ability to share it
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healthily with others and moreover is
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not what the world becomes sometimes how
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we believe it ought to be if we want a
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good World both in terms of morality and
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prosperity we must believe in a good
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world and we must create a good World on
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that
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belief for makavelli however if the goal
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is power then perhaps these points are
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irrelevant but the point is perhaps the
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goal of humans isn't solely power and if
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it is perhaps it shouldn't be at least
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not solely in like defense of makavelli
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however perhaps this cannot be said for
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everyone some if not many individuals
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might very well be chiefly interested in
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power and they might be fully willing to
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engage in or Justify malicious tactics
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to obtain and sustain it and perhaps
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this is where machi's work is actually
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most useful and
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practical another interpretation of the
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prince is not as a manual for rulers but
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a warning for the ruled it is perhaps
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more of a portrait of humankind painted
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in the style of total realism with which
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one can see Humanity as it really is or
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can be and can understand what to look
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out for as well as how to protect
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oneself against it how we live is so
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different from how we ought to live that
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he who studies what ought to be done
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rather than what is done will learn the
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way to his downfall rather than to his
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preservation makavelli
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wrote moving somewhat beyond the realm
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of mere governance we can and likely
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should consider a degree of macelli's
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insights in our own individual lives
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firstly it should be noted that likely
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for makavelli goodness and love are in
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fact ideals and are great whenever
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possible but they are just simply not
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always possible being as nice as one can
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is great but being dedicated to acting
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nicely all the time is almost certainly
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a performance and almost certainly a
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performance that will cause more harm
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than good the truth is even the kindest
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and most well-intended people cannot
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always be nice or good nor should they
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it is not only impossible but it is
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sometimes counter to the very goals of
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niceness and goodness it can lead to
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self- neglect and self-sacrifice which
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can lead to resentment or worse it can
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lead to misalignment deceit or
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miscommunication intentional or
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unintentional if niess is always the
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sole goal one will have to constantly
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hide their true views hopes and Desires
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in order to avoid upsetting or offending
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anyone which inevitably leaves the truth
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hidden and the truth of course always
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comes to light hiding it only makes it
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come back in worse form life is at
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bottom a series of messy trade-offs
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including that of ethics and
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pleasantness ultimately each of us are
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in our own lives part of the portrait of
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humanity we're all participants in
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groups and societies both local and
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Broad we each lead and are LED and we
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each experience varying Dynamics and
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degrees of power even if we have no
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interest in significant power or in
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playing the games of politics and Rule
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power extends to and from everything in
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which we engage to have any freedom at
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all is to have the power to withstand
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and prevent imposition and regardless of
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whether humans are inherently good bad
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or neutral we will all encounter bad
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people trying to impose on us or
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otherwise good people trying to impose
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on us some people will inevitably screw
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you over take advantage of you ignore
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you belittle you or even hurt you if you
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let them men are so simple of mind and
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so much dominated by their immediate
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needs that a deceitful man will always
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find plenty who are ready to be deceived
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wrote
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makavelli and so it is of utmost
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importance to not let them don't let
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them deceive you but also don't become
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them don't unnecessarily deceive every
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time we do not defend our own world we
00:12:00
open the door to dysfunction and
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disorder within it but likewise every
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time we do not strive to propel goodness
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into and forward in the world as a whole
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we close the door to Hope in a world
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worth living
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in before passing away in 1527 makavelli
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wrote several other books including the
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Art of War and Florentine histories
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following his death his work gained
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increasing notoriety and a term for the
00:12:26
particular archetype of villain and
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villainous activity described by his
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work would be named after him now known
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as
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machiavellianism but makaveli's thesis
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appears to be much less like that of
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villainous support and more likely to be
00:12:39
that of the following apparently bad
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things can sometimes equate to good
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outcomes and stable effective outcomes
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for a nation is the utmost achievable
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good whether this is a good thesis or
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not is a different question in truth the
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origins and meaning of maki's work are
00:12:56
both somewhat unknown and easy to
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misunderstand
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another interpretation of his work is
00:13:01
that it was satire merely mocking the
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dysfunction of principality regardless
00:13:06
what is known is that makavelli himself
00:13:08
after writing the prince never went on
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to obtain any sort of notable political
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success or power perhaps that was a
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matter of Misfortune perhaps his own
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methods and his espousing of them in the
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way he did were not so effective or
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perhaps he did not mean to suggest that
00:13:22
said methods ought to be used and so he
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did not use them whatever the case may
00:13:27
be his work would nonetheless go go on
00:13:29
to inspire both real and fictional
00:13:31
individuals he would Inspire the work of
00:13:33
philosophers like Jean jaac rouso friedr
00:13:35
N and Francis Bacon leaders like Henry
00:13:37
VII Charles I and likely countless more
00:13:40
including perhaps the founding fathers
00:13:41
of America and current world leaders and
00:13:44
writers like William Shakespeare as well
00:13:46
as most if not all comedic and tragic
00:13:48
writers who've ever included a
00:13:50
villainous archetypical character in
00:13:51
their work perhaps more notably most
00:13:54
people's adverse reaction to at least
00:13:56
the more villainous interpretation of
00:13:58
makavelli demonstrates an innate human
00:14:00
impulse away from such ideas and towards
00:14:03
something better makaveli's views on how
00:14:06
the world was or is is perhaps far less
00:14:08
important than how the world can be a
00:14:11
man melli wrote who is used to acting in
00:14:14
one way never changes he must come to
00:14:16
ruin when the times in changing no
00:14:19
longer are in harmony with his ways with
00:14:22
this perhaps Machi himself would know
00:14:25
better than to take his own ideas
00:14:26
seriously outright in all times and
00:14:28
places throughout history we have as a
00:14:31
Humanity adapted and evolved a great
00:14:33
deal since the conditions of the
00:14:35
Renaissance we are each new brush
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Strokes on the portrait of humanity and
00:14:39
it is up to each of us to try to paint a
00:14:42
smile on the face and it is up to each
00:14:44
of us to decide if the smile is
00:14:52
[Music]
00:14:53
genuine understanding how to be both a
00:14:55
good and effective person how to be both
00:14:57
fair to others and fair to oneself
00:15:00
chiefly requires a respect for human
00:15:02
psychology one must understand the
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nuances of the Mind Evolution and social
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