There is this idea in politics where people often say or claim "the ends justify the means". However, while most people hear that and think of violence, it's not like deception doesn't also fit into that. Or theft, or cheating, and so on. Machiavellianism is about cunning, not the aggression of violence. So if violence is something people talk about on the Overton Window Scale, why is Machiavellianism treated like it's too out-of-left-field? Why is playing the long game "too crafty" when people entertain violence anyways?

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[โ€“] 1 point 2 days ago

Machiavellianism is by definition transgressive. It also causes negative external outcomes which in aggregate leads to retribution and social breakdown. There's real world consequences for Machiavellianism that create a counter-pressure to the Overton window, via negative social feedback loops.

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