Nicolo Machiavelli - Food for thought

[Xipe Totec]

CHAPTER XX

Are Fortresses, And Many Other Things To Which Princes Often Resort, Advantageous Or Hurtful?

1. SOME princes, so as to hold securely the state, have disarmed their subjects; others have kept their subject towns by factions; others have fostered enmities against themselves; others have laid themselves out to gain over those whom they distrusted in the beginning of their governments; some have built fortresses; some have overthrown and destroyed them. And although one cannot give a final judgment on all one of these things unless one possesses the particulars of those states in which a decision has to be made, nevertheless I will speak as comprehensively as the matter of itself will admit.

2. There never was a new prince who has disarmed his subjects; rather when he has found them disarmed he has always armed them, because, by arming them, those arms become yours, those men who were distrusted become faithful, and those who were faithful are kept so, and your subjects become your adherents. And whereas all subjects cannot be armed, yet when those whom you do arm are benefited, the others can be handled more freely, and this difference in their treatment, which they quite understand, makes the former your dependants, and the latter, considering it to be necessary that those who have the most danger and service should have the most reward, excuse you. But when you disarm them, you at once offend them by showing that you distrust them, either for cowardice or for want of loyalty, and either of these opinions breeds hatred against you. And because you cannot remain unarmed, it follows that you turn to mercenaries, which are of the character already shown; even if they should be good they would not be sufficient to defend you against powerful enemies and distrusted subjects. Therefore, as I have said, a new prince in a new principality has always distributed arms.

http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince20.htm

[proteus_lives]

1. Nicolo Machiavelli will always be relevant.

Point 2 remains true centuries later and will continue to be true.

[appal_jack]

2. k&r

I have a copy of _The_Prince_ somewere, but have not yet read it. I'm in the middle of Wallace Stegner's _Joe_hill_ right now, so mome Macchiavelli to follow would provide an interesting contrast.

-app