The author of the quotation “the end justifies the means” (Weeraratne 68), the father of the political theory, the teacher, and the best example for so many current leaders, Niccolò Machiavelli lived at the end of the 15th century and at the beginning of the 16th century and could not even guess how powerful his ideas would be during the 20th and 21st centuries.
This Italian philosopher and writer created his works in order to help men comprehend what they should do, how they should do, and what they should not do anytime. The readers usually appreciate reliable pieces of advice, this is why Machiavelli’s works are still in such unbelievable demand.
The time changes the world, however, some words, which were told in the past, may be rather relevant to the situations, which happen nowadays. Machiavelli’s works have a considerable impact on our modern politicians, taking into consideration the fact that he worked during the far 16th century; and now, let’s only imagine how powerful and helpful his ideas for those, who want to gain a political office, could be, if Niccolò Machiavelli was alive today.
In 1513, Niccolò Machiavelli wrote his Prince, the political treatise, where he gave certain pieces of advice for the prince to enlarge his power at the expense of his principality. This philosopher truly believed that the main purpose of any prince is to create a stable state and did not care about the actions and their consequences, even if there are cruel. It does not matter that someone could hate or even despise the prince, the only thing that mattered was power, obedience, and victory.
To my mind, some of his ideas are used or at least taken into consideration by the members of political offices. A modern political office is “the office of Member of Parliament, Member of the European Parliament, or a member of a local authority or any position within a political party” (Sargeant and Lewis 369).
If Niccolò Machiavelli was alive today, his recommendations to people, who wanted to retain a political office, could be rather various. First of all, he would recommend the representatives of the parliament to forget about people’ demands and care about personal prosperity. If people do not have too much, they do not have many reasons to lose something or care about something, this is why these people are easy to control, and the representatives of the political office can gain any sphere of life within a short period of time.
A person wants to gain a political office, but there is a few number of places to take. This is why it is necessary to make the representatives of the parliament drop their business or at least prove the others own abilities to become a worthwhile part of the political office. Nowadays, people already have so many things, much money, real estate, and own business, this is why another brilliant idea of Machiavelli may be closely connected to the strategy that could lead to loss of all those things and poverty.
By means of taxes and price rising, it is possible to make those, who have too much, pay more. One day, it would be impossible to solve all those financial problems, and people would be eager to change the parliament. And here you are: ready to help, provide financial support, save the country, and make this country respect and be afraid of your power.
Of course, all these ideas are not fair enough; however, as Machiavelli said “the end justifies the means” (Weeraratne 68).
Works Cited
Sargeant, Malcolm and Lewis, David. Employment Law. England: Pearson Education Limited, 2008.
Weeraratne, Andrew. Uncommon Commonsense Steps to Super Wealth – Your (Hero’s) Journey. Florida: Passerelle Corp, 2007.