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| Concerning Cruelty and Clemency. | Started by: Nick_Toreno on Feb 03, '08 18:20 |
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There was a chapter with this very name in Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, in which he discussed at great length whether it was better to be feared or loved. As I'm sure we're all aware, being the new breed of well educated lowlifes that we are, Machiavelli decided that: "one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved" As 'The Prince' set the standard for leadership on a principality level for many hundreds of years, it is with a heavy heart that I dispute this ruling; though I do of course realise that by disputing his opinions I am merely showing an attitude contrary to the Machiavellian stance rather than directly refuting his theories, but alas, I sidetrack myself. So back to the topic before last. Machiavelli asserts that promises made in peace are not always kept in times of war, yet commitments made of fear are always kept of fear; though this may be the case, I've always felt that promises made in fear are oft broken out of desperation. To be feared as a man, or woman, can never be undermined though for the position of being feared is a precarious one, as one stands on the edge of hatred and rebellion. Equally, the man who is loved spends his days in a dangerously insecure situation, knowing that it could easily result in a lack of respect and dissention; yet promises made out of love and loyalty are often kept for those same reasons. Machiavelli compares the Generals Hannibal and Scipio, and how Hannibal's men followed him through fear, yet Scipio lacked the talent to instil fear and suffered desertion. To this, I counter with Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompey. There was Caesar, whose men crossed the Rubicon and attacked Rome out of their love for him; and there was Pompey, whose men deserted him in their hundreds due to their fear of him. Despite all this, I have yet to consider the abhorrent 'virtue' of mercy which, in my opinion, is something which deals a severe blow to self respect when offered, and perhaps a fatal blow when accepted; though this is a debate for another day, I feel the matter of mercy must be looked at when one considers the Cruelty and Clemency argument. To compress my inane waffling into a nice bitesize paragrah, I feel that the victor concerning love and fear is truly subjective to the person, because, let's face it, not everyone grows up to be the big bad wolf; and some people, sadly, will never get anyone to love them. |
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My dear boy. Love is never subjective. If it were, we'd be able to choose who we loved. Thats it really. |
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| Reply by: Zebedee at Feb 03, '08 18:28 | |
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Mr. Toreno, Have you ever offered mercy to anyone? |
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| Reply by: Keats at Feb 03, '08 19:52 | |
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| Keats, I can honestly say that no, I've never deliberately offered mercy to anyone, I believe it to be an insult and nothing more; though I don't doubt you're creating a trap made from my own words for me. | |
| Reply by: Nick_Toreno at Feb 04, '08 08:12 | |
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