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What's your impression of a person who says they're Machiavellian? (lemmy.cafe)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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[–] 6 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Ah. So they read The Prince, and they admire the self-centered, amoral pursuit of political power.

We call those people conservative or fascist, depending on the degree of ideological rigour and if any off flavours are present.

To answer your question, I consider the dish ruined. It should be discarded and you should try anew from scratch.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    I mean... probably, but he wrote other books. Discourses on Livy is a pretty good read, and definitely not very fascist, or even conservative by today's standard. The guy straight up wrote "it should be the object of every well-governed commonwealth to make the state rich and keep individual citizens poor"

    He is on the cynical side, though

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 child)

    "it should be the object of every well-governed commonwealth to make the state rich and keep individual citizens poor"

    Considering that "state" here means him and his buddies, it translates into modern english as "Fuck you, I've got mine".

    Can't get more conservative than that.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

    Nah. I've been saving up quotes as I've been reading, just for the day when I meet the internet right-wing edgelord who calls himself a Machiavellian, because it's full of stuff like this.

    "A princedom is impossible where equality prevails, and a Republic where it does not"

    "A people is wiser and more constant than a prince"

    "the ambition of the great is so pernicious that unless controlled and counteracted in a variety of ways, it will always reduce a city to speedy ruin"

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