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Grace Chen 500 Years Later 10/9/13

While reading The Prince , I was continuously drawing parallels between

Machiavellis suggestions and modern day political strategies. There were moments

when I remarked thats horrible and thats brilliant at the same time for the

unsugared honesty of his statements. If the text is from a specific point in time, written

under specific circumstances, why does it still resonate with us so deeply?

Even while his tactics are clearly outlined and based on specific situation,

Machiavellis text is somewhat ideologically ambiguous. His disentanglement of politics

from other considerations allows his ideas to be coopted by leaders from across the

political spectrum. While he seems to envision a one-man-rule in The Prince, he believed

the best form of government was the republic since it allowed the voices of people to be

heard to some extent, mediating conflict, and allowing a select few could rule with

utmost authority. Eve n while Machiavellis text seems to advocate for a different

political system, Communists leaders like Antonio Gramsci have coopted his ideas in

thinking about revolutionary rule.

In modern times, his name periodically appears in the news in reference to some

contemporary leader. Recently, for example, Putin was compared to Machiavelli for his

pragmatic foreign policy in contrast to Obamas idealism. However, such a view is

superficial and masks the prevalence of Machiavellian strategies within our society.

While The Prince is very pragmatic, there is something repugnant about the

straightforwardness of the work and a human thirst for ideals. In America, we have

ideals such as freedom, liberty, equality, and justice but are these just

ideological masks for the underlying Machiavellian politics? Machiavelli urges his prince

that he must seem virtuous while knowing that it is impossible to be completely

virtuous. Can Machiavellis unveiling of the mechanizations of power also help us

understand contemporary power structures that have been obfuscated by ideology?

There is something about our own reality that is difficult to see clearly while we can read

textbook accounts of the past and easily condemn past practices.

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One such example is our current system of incarceration. In The New Jim Crow ,

Michelle Alexander powerfully unveils the structural violence against Blacks that has

continued and transformed in modern day times: By targeting black men thought the

War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system

functions as a contemporary system of racial control relegating millions to a

permanent second-class status even as it formally adheres to the principle of

colorblindness. Her argument fits into Machiavellis st ructural understanding of power

and how it maneuvers. For example, factions allow the prince to manage his subjects

more easily. The people who struggle under our current economic system can be better

managed. Blacks and poor Whites have had similar grievances since before the

inception of our country. By pitting the two groups against each other and supporting

the more powerful group (Whites), the government can continue to operate under the

same economic system and status quo. According to the more popular interpretation,

however, the staggering increase in incarceration rates in communities of color to the

predictable, though unfortunate consequences of poverty, racial segregation, unequal

educational opportunities, and the resumed realities of the drug market, including the

mistaken belief that most drug dealers are black or brown. This interpretation doesnt

take into account the top-down, strategic manipulation of power in the creation ofpresent circumstances. Instead, it focuses on historical fallout and individual

responsibility, inspiring mild criticism of the current system, rather than outright hate

and sense of injustice, which Machiavelli recognizes is very dangerous.

After considering these powerful implications of Machiavellis work, I won der

how it can be used in our present times for a better understanding of our present

circumstances.