Question 2
Machiavelli has strong beliefs about the characteristics of a prince. One of his main beliefs is that a prince should be feared before loved. It reminds me of a relationship between a parent and a child. When a child fears their parent they have more respect for them. They know that their parent is in control. Every good leader has to have security. Meaning that their power is not at risk. The child also won't try to go against the parent because they know the consequences. They fear something might happen to them. It also seems that when you are too nice to people they try to take advantage of you. No one wants a leader that is weak and will let anybody run over them. We don't let anyone just run over our country, so why would we want a leader who does that. A leader does not have to be cruel he just needs to let everyone know who is in control. Machiavelli believes that a prince should whatever he can to maintain power. i agree with this to a certain extent. I don't agree with torture and imprisonment, but sometimes a leader has to do things that will scare the people a little. To show them who is in charge. That is one of the reasons the United States bombed Hiroshima. They wanted to show the rest of the world what they were capable of. That way they will fear them and won't attempt to test them. As a leader it is good to be loved by the people, but a certain level of respect comes when you a fear a person.
3 comments:
Respect can follow fear, but a leadrer must know when enough is enough. I think that along with the protection the people expect a leader to ensure, they also expect a leader to respect them and cater to their needs and not constantly be focused on who needs to fear them.
I like how you compared a child and the parents to how Machiavelli thinks a prince should be. It really shows how you understood the reading. I agree that a good leader must be feared by the people, but should only take it so far.
Very nice, and it's good to see someone placing some limits on just what a leader should do to maintain power. Yes, a leader needs to have some level of fear associated with him to be able to control the populace, but there really are things that just shouldn't be done to achieve those ends.
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