INTRO--MACHIAVELLI THE PRINCE OF WAR
The Prince
Title page of a 1550 edition
| |
Author | Niccolò Machiavelli |
---|---|
Original title | De Principatibus / Il Principe |
Country | Italy |
Language | Italian |
Subject | Political science |
Genre | Non-fiction |
Publisher | Antonio Blado d'Asola. |
Publication date
| 1532 |
Followed by | Discourses on Livy |
The Prince (Italian: Il Principe [il ˈprintʃipe]) is a 16th-century political treatise by the Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. From correspondence a version appears to have been distributed in 1513, using a Latin title, De Principatibus (Of Principalities).[1] However, the printed version was not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. This was done with the permission of the Medici pope Clement VII, but "long before then, in fact since the first appearance of The Prince in manuscript, controversy had swirled about his writings".[2]
Although it was written as if it were a traditional work in the mirrors for princes style, it is generally agreed that it was especially innovative. This is only partly because it was written in the vernacular Italian rather than Latin, a practice which had become increasingly popular since the publication of Dante's Divine Comedy and other works of Renaissance literature.[3][4]
The Prince is sometimes claimed to be one of the first works of modern philosophy, especially modern political philosophy, in which the effective truth is taken to be more important than any abstract ideal. It was also in direct conflict with the dominant Catholic and scholastic doctrines of the time concerning politics and ethics.[5][6]
Although it is relatively short, the treatise is the most remembered of Machiavelli's works and the one most responsible for bringing the word "Machiavellian" into usage as a pejorative. It even contributed to the modern negative connotations of the words "politics" and "politician" in western countries.[7] In terms of subject matter it overlaps with the much longer Discourses on Livy, which was written a few years later. In its use of near-contemporary Italians as examples of people who perpetrated criminal deeds for politics, another lesser-known work by Machiavelli which The Prince has been compared to is the Life of Castruccio Castracani.
The descriptions within The Prince have the general theme of accepting that the aims of princes – such as glory and survival – can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends:[8]
EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK, "THE MACHIAVELLI COVENANT" BY ALLAN FOLSOM
PAGE 83 . . . Not forgotten in all this necessary political "forward motion" was the incident aboard Air Force One on the flight to Berlin. He could still fell the numbing chill of Dr. James Marshall's proposal to assassinate the president of France and the chancellor of Germany. To be replaced with leaders we can trust, now and in the future. Followed by Jake Lowe's bold statement, There are such people, Mr. President. And then Marshall's It can be done, sir, and rather quickly. You'd be surprised.
PAGE 110-111 . . . And as the minutes and hours ticked away before Richard finally called, his anxiety level had risen almost to bursting. What would he do if they abandoned him? go back to Arizona and the meager life he'd lived thee before they'd found him? It would be as if he'd been given another chance and failed again, then, let go for reasons that were not his fault at all, the same as had happened so many times before.
It seemed as if it was his damnation--hard worker, always on time, never complaining, but let go in a few months anyway for reasons never made clear. It had all been hands-dirty sweatwork: warehouseman, truck driver, short-order cook, security guard; in his entire life he had never held a job for more than fifteen months. And then this wonderful opportunity had come along, and with it growing respect and first-class travel to cities he had never dreamed of. And now the thought of losing it. Oh, God! The awful shadow of that possibility burned in his guts. fear and despair twisted inside hm with each passing minute. Too often he looked as the silent phone on the bed next to him. A phone that should have rung hours before but hadn't. Then, finally, mercifully, it did ring and he snatched it up to hear the comfort of Richard's voice bringing him back into the fold. Afterward, when he'd clicked off, he let out a deep breath and relaxed, even smiled.
Everything he knew was still alright.
PAGE 134, 135 . . . The president's eyes left Marshall and swung to the others. Every one of them stared back at him in silence. and that included his long-time political adviser and close friend, Jake Lowe, and his dear host, Evan Byrd.
"Jesus, God," he breathed. He had no friends here, none at all. Again he heard Jake Lowe's words. Before . . . our people were not yet in place. Now they are.
And before they did't have the weapons they needed.
Now they did.
"What you are planning is some kind of biological warfare. Against what, the Muslim states?"
"Mr. President." Vice President Hamilton Rogers crossed in front of the Marshall. rogers was blond with dark savage eyes, ten years his junior and far more conservative. The truth was he had fought against having him as a running mate, feeling he was much too conservative, but had finally given in to the pressure of Lowe who had convinced him Rogers was the man to push the vote over. Now he knew why. Rogers was one of them. Whoever they were.
"For the security of the nation we are asking you to authorize the physical elimination of the president of France and the chancellor of Germany. Please give us that authorization."
In that instant President Harris knew that if he didn't go along with everything they wanted, they would kill him. And then, by law, the vice president would become president and authorize the killings anyway. Looking at them--who they were, the offices they represented, the vast connections they had--he realized that from top to bottom there was no one he dared trust. No one. Even his private secretary, who had been with him for nearly twenty years, had to be suspect. the same with his Secret Service protectors, and that included his SAIC, Hap Daniels. What he needed was time to find some way out, to find some way to stop them and whatever horrifying Armageddon they were planning.
THIS IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT, WHEN I TALK THE "DEEP STATE!"
THESE GUYS EXIST!
THEY ARE WHO HAVE BEEN TRYING TO KILL ME, AS I HAVE TRIED TO TRAIN AND INFORM YOU!
GO FIGURE. I AM A CONSTITUTIONAL LAW ATTORNEY, PATRIOT, VETERAN OF DOMESTIC WARS FOR 25 YEARS?
FIRST THEY BREAK YOU, THEN, THEY REMAKE YOU!
LOOK AT TRUMP'S BEHAVIOR TOWARDS OUR FRIENDS, OUR ALLIES, AND OUR FORMER FOES. WHY FRANCE AND GERMANY? WHY NOT RUSSIA AND CHINA?
THEY WANT NEW GEOPOLITICAL BOUNDARIES AND FRIENDS!
THAT NEW WORLD POPPY BUSH AND BUSH JR. TALKED OF!
THINK THE PATRIOT ACT OVER THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION!
THINK THE WORLD, OF THE OPEN MIND AND OPEN BODY!
FASCISM WILL COME WITH THE FLAG AROUND ITS NECK, AND A CROSS ON ITS CHEST!
WE ARE SO FAR INTO THIS THING, THAT IT WOULD SCARE THE BIGIBBIES OUT OF YOU. 25 YEARS AGO, WHILE I WAS IN LAW SCHOOL, MY, COP, FBI AGENT, BOYFRIEND, PRETENDING TO BE ALL ABOUT THE U.S. CONSTITUTION, BUT TRYING TO GET ME TO NOT ONLY DROP OUT OF LAW SCHOOL, BUT, FUCK THE CONSTITUTION, A DEAD DOCUMENT, ALREADY A SINKING SHIP?
I HAVE FOUGHT VALIANTLY, ALONE, FOR THE MOST PART, TO BRING THAT MAGNIFICIENT DOCUMENT, WITH SO MUCH FORESIGHT, WE ARE JUST REALIZING, BALANCE OF POWER, AND A WALL OF SEPARATION BETWEEN THE BRANCHES, JUST HOW, INSPIRED, THOSE BRILLIANT MEN WERE!
YOU BET, I WOULD GIVE AND ALMOST HAVE, BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD, GIVEN MY LIFE FOR, AS MANY HAVE, YOU KNOW AND LOVE!
DON'T LET THE SACRIFICE BE IN VAIN.
THEY HAVE MY DAILY MONOPOLY MONEY! ABOUT $30 MILLION OR MORE PER DAY!
THINK WHO THEY CAN BUY AND WHAT DESTRUCTION THEY CAN REAP!
SOME TOLD ME, YEARS AGO, THIS COUNTRY WAS DOOMED!
IN THE 25 YEAR FIGHT . . . I HAVE "NEVER" BEEN SO ENCOURAGED!
FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!
KISSES. LOVES. HUGS.
YOU NEVER KNOW HOW STRONG YOU ARE UNTIL STRONG IS ALL YOU HAVE!