A few days ago, my father handed me 3 books based on Niccolo Machiavelli, the famous Italian politician (and not only!) whose personal work and beliefs gave way to a new method of achieving ones goals. This is known as Machiavellianism and is defined as "the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct."
My father gave me these books because we were having a debate about how Greek politics never seems to work and how the relations between politicians are very delicate. As outsiders we see everything as black and white...you are either a douche-bag or you arent, you are either a nice person, or you arent. Sadly this couldnt be further from the truth. There are 50 shades of gray between the two! (No pun intended!). What my father hoped to achieve with these books, is to teach me a little more about political dynamics and to develop yet another perspective on these matters.
Once i heard the definition, i finally understood to a degree, the motivations and intentions behind Greek politics. Furthermore, my personal belief is that what we see as corruption in Greece, actually stems all the way from ancient Greece. My thinking behind this is that we were always a people that liked to share and give gifts. Its in our nature! Fast forward a couple of years to today and what you get is a developed and perhaps exaggerated version of what we did in ancient times.
What began as gift-giving has been warped over time, to personal favors and expectations of a return. Globalization has also played its role in changing the social dynamics between people/nations; resulting in people lacking any scruples.
Anywho, im straying off point here...
One of these books, was a Greek adaptation of Niccolo Machiavelli's concessions of a ruler. These are 183 principles with which he carried himself and founded his beliefs upon. I only just started to read these principles but i find them to be very concise and on point, which is a bit scary because its still relevent! even after all these years!
I have thus decided to write 4 principles everyday, for the next 40 or so days on this blogspace!
Thus, i present to you....
(These are translated from Greek to English, so please excuse any misinterpretation or mistranslation of words)
Machiavelli's concessions of a ruler
1)If you inherit power you will be more loved than if you capture it, hence you have less of a need to be tough.
2)Trying to show that you are a leader only proves that you are mediocre
My father gave me these books because we were having a debate about how Greek politics never seems to work and how the relations between politicians are very delicate. As outsiders we see everything as black and white...you are either a douche-bag or you arent, you are either a nice person, or you arent. Sadly this couldnt be further from the truth. There are 50 shades of gray between the two! (No pun intended!). What my father hoped to achieve with these books, is to teach me a little more about political dynamics and to develop yet another perspective on these matters.
Once i heard the definition, i finally understood to a degree, the motivations and intentions behind Greek politics. Furthermore, my personal belief is that what we see as corruption in Greece, actually stems all the way from ancient Greece. My thinking behind this is that we were always a people that liked to share and give gifts. Its in our nature! Fast forward a couple of years to today and what you get is a developed and perhaps exaggerated version of what we did in ancient times.
What began as gift-giving has been warped over time, to personal favors and expectations of a return. Globalization has also played its role in changing the social dynamics between people/nations; resulting in people lacking any scruples.
Anywho, im straying off point here...
One of these books, was a Greek adaptation of Niccolo Machiavelli's concessions of a ruler. These are 183 principles with which he carried himself and founded his beliefs upon. I only just started to read these principles but i find them to be very concise and on point, which is a bit scary because its still relevent! even after all these years!
I have thus decided to write 4 principles everyday, for the next 40 or so days on this blogspace!
Thus, i present to you....
(These are translated from Greek to English, so please excuse any misinterpretation or mistranslation of words)
Machiavelli's concessions of a ruler
1)If you inherit power you will be more loved than if you capture it, hence you have less of a need to be tough.
2)Trying to show that you are a leader only proves that you are mediocre
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