Prince Essays (970 words) - Machiavellianism, Political Philosophy

Prince Governing countries and states properly has been a difficult task from the beginning of time. In every country there will be people to who are unhappy and will disagree with your rule, causing your system to fail. So, century after century, people have tried new ways to make their politics suffice everyone's needs. However, the art of politics is a complicated and challenging issue that will always be needed to be dealt with. There have been many ways in which people have preached their ideas on politics, but none were better than those of Niccolo Machiavelli. Born in 1469, Niccolo was adamant in creating a master plan for seizing and controlling power. He voiced these themes on what it takes to be a prince of a state in his magnificent book, The Prince. In his book many themes were expressed in order to fulfill the role of a prince. These themes ranged from human nature to military force and most importantly virtue. Machavelli believed that the state is the highest achievement of man and one should love the state more than his own soul. Being the perfect prince is clearly a difficult task, but if done correctly, it can be very rewarding. Machiavelli also believed that human nature does not change. In general Machiavelli thought people were ungrateful, selfish, and insincere people, who only care about themselves. Therefore the government must take account for man's true nature and use his qualities for its purposes. Machiavelli also explained that a ruler who intends to be successful must be prepared to do bad things when necessary. He must sometimes caress, sometimes hurt, sometimes forgive, and sometimes punish. This requirement must override all moral judgments, and when making the decision, the ruler must act without hesitation. Hesitation would project"false wisdom". Another, and probably the most important concept of political success is the idea of virtue. Virtue means strength, intelligence, and courage, the necessary qualities of any human being. Machiavelli felt that the quality of virtue was found in some of the world's most important leaders; Moses, Cyrus, and Romulus to name a few. Governments ruled by an individual depends upon this leaders virtue. Without it, the political success will crumble. Aside from virtue there is fortune or fate as we sometimes put it. Although Machiavelli feels that the quality of virtue is necessary for a states success, chance or luck also has an affect. He feels that in life no matter how much intelligence and strength you have, there is a part of life in which you have little or no control over. Virtue being a powerful quality, Machiavelli saw its potential to build a defense against fortune. However, fortune is inconsistent and variable so, you must treat it like a woman. Machiavelli states, and I quote, "fortune is woman, and it is necessary, if you wish to master her, to conquer her by force". His point is that when you encounter fortune, you must approach it aggressively. Machiavelli said that the ruler must be able to imitate both the lion and the fox. He is saying that the qualities of a ruler must show the bravery and strength of a lion, but also, the slyness of the fox. These characteristics are imperative for a new ruler especially. That way he can get the respect from the people right away. An example of one ruler who showed both the qualities of a lion and a fox was Septimus Serverus, a Roman emperor from 193-211 A.D. Another quality of a ruler should be that he is both loved and feared. In actuality, it is almost impossible to be both those, so it is better to be feared. Love can lose effectiveness because of human nature. When something conflicts, love can easily be overcome for one's own private interests. And fear on the other hand is maintained by the dread of punishment, which is always present. Machiavelli made it very clear why it is better to be feared than loved. Another quality of a prince is that it is better to be considered merciful than cruel, but mercy must never be misused. Machiavelli declared that the art of war was the subject of most importance to the ruler. A prince can be attacked in two ways: internally, by conspiracies, and externally, by enemies. A prince can defend himself from external attacks by having good armed forces and good friends. He can defend himself from conspiracies by avoiding hatred. Machiavelli also stated that no prince should disarm his subjects or else he will

Cointelpro essays

Cointelpro essays The United Sates Federal Bureau of Investigation put together a counterintelligence program or Cointelpro to investigate and disrupt political dissent within the United States. Cointelpro operations targeted organizations that were thought to have politically radical movements. It started in 1956 and went on until 1971. During the Cold War, the communist and socialist party were targeted by FBI counterintelligence, whose purpose was not only to investigate, but take actions to neutralize any political dissent. As the years went by, the FBIs focus shifted to emerging anti-war and civil rights groups. These groups were thought of as communist front organizations. The largest cointelpro campaigns targeted the Social Workers Party, the New Left (which included many anti-war groups such as Students for a Democratic Society and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), and Black nationalists groups such as the Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam. Other groups targeted were the American Indian Movement, Feminists, and gay and lesbian groups. The methods that were used in cointelpro were: infiltration, psychological warfare, harassment through the legal system, and illegal force and violence. The FBI would try to infiltrate organizations by becoming members so they could find out information from the inside. They would use psychological warfare by spreading misinformation and making anonymous letters and phone calls. One of the FBIs most harmful tactics in cointelpro was harassment through the legal system. They presented false evidence and gave perjured testimony against some activists, while they falsely arrested and imprisoned others. The FBI would also use illegal force and violence to intimidate political dissidents. An example of a cointelpro tactic is the Black Panther Party coloring book that was created by the FBI and sent to sponsors of the organ ...

Examine the portrayal of women and isolation in the yellow wallpaper Essay

Examine the portrayal of women and isolation in the yellow wallpaper by charlotte perkins gilman - Essay Example It is these factors; the treatment of herself and women in general, the "rest-cure", the isolation, and the yellow wallpapered room, which eventually drive her to insanity and hysteria. Thesis Gilman tells the story of a woman isolated in her own house through one of her own life experiences in perhaps, an over exaggerated, dramatic kind of way. During the Eighteenth century, women were generally viewed as weak. Women did not work to make money for that was a man's job. Women generally stayed around the house and did household chores. In the narrator's case, the opposite occurs. Husband John forbids for his wife to work or write while she is ill. She feels that it is this "prescription" that keeps her ill. She explains how she wants to rearrange her room if she can not have the downstairs room. John again makes an "executive" decision and says no stating that, "You know the place is doing you good, and really, dear, I don't care to renovate the house just for a three months' rental" (Gilman). It shows how men had the power over women and gave complete disregard for simple requests. The narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" spends so much time in her room that she eventually becomes obsessed with this yellow wallpaper. She becomes so obsessed that she actually believes that she is the woman in the wallpaper. She is the one clim bing out and reaching out through the bars. She becomes delusional. In the Eighteenth century, hysteria was more common in women. According to a professor in bioethics and assistant professor of internal health at Case Western Reserve University, Sana Loue states that "Hysteria, in particular, was believed to be an affliction specific to women. Hysteria was brought on by feelings of depression, nervousness, or crying and could manifest in the form of hysterical "fit" similar to an epileptic seizure" (Gilman). The subjugation that prevailed in the society made women treated as subhuman. They were just considered as vessels of fertility and had the mere privilege of a set of ovaries and a womb. The feminist ideologies of the narrator are evident throughout her talk. She was found subordinate to her husband John who believed that women are frail and can never make decision of their own. The narrator's great passion for life and her strong feministic beliefs do not allowed her to be in the controlled world of her husband. Her house appeared as a prison for her all through these days. The narrator was always under the care of someone, her brother and then her husband. Both of them being doctors do not understand her mind. They are least flexible and only look for her physical recovery (Bak 199). They do not allow her to indulge in something that she wanted to indulge in. She wanted to write; may be she wanted to pour out her depression into words. She was of the belief that more mental and ph ysical activity would solve her problems. She never desired to have physical rest. However her husband and brother were not able to understand this and compelled her to be under complete rest that would make her free from any activity. They were not able to comprehend their self and did not even attempt to understand her. The male dominated world never wanted the husbands to understand their wives. The narrator's husband and broth