{"id":236,"date":"2022-05-23T17:47:50","date_gmt":"2022-05-23T17:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/clusterlearningatplymouthstate\/chapter\/caesar-machiavelli-you-me\/"},"modified":"2023-05-11T12:45:43","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T12:45:43","slug":"caesar-machiavelli-you-me","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/cluster-learning-at-plymouth-state\/chapter\/caesar-machiavelli-you-me\/","title":{"raw":"Caesar, Machiavelli, You and Me","rendered":"Caesar, Machiavelli, You and Me"},"content":{"raw":"
\n

Spring 2022<\/h4>\n

Why are we where we are today?\u00a0Let\u2019s consider some vital elements of Western thinking.<\/p>\n

\u201cDivide and conquer\u201d is a strategy going back at least to Julius Caesar.\u00a0Its tactics are psychological and economic as well as military.\u00a0In the \u201cdivide and conquer\u201d paradigm, a dominant institution or subculture is predisposed to divide its subjects into competing or conflicting groups to avoid being threatened with disempowerment.<\/p>\n

For example, if poor whites are encouraged by their masters to feel superior to poor blacks, the poor whites will act out this perceived superiority on poor blacks, and at the same time be rendered impotent as a potential threat to the empowered.\u00a0Poor blacks become objectified and dehumanized by poor whites, just as yacht-laden overlords objectify and dehumanize their various political and economic subjects.\u00a0Having someone \u201clesser\u201d to feel superior to can powerfully abate one\u2019s pain.<\/p>\n

We are all familiar with the \u201cdivide and conquer\u201d strategy because of its use in our history classes going back to childhood.\u00a0Of course, how this paradigm is applied can vary by person or situation.<\/p>\n

Caesar was updated by Machiavelli in the early 1500s. For some reason, Machiavelli\u2019s \u201cThe Prince\u201d is still taught in high schools and colleges, and is understood as a model tactic for success.\u00a0In it, Machiavelli advises his \u201cprince\u201d (expanded definition: any authority) to maintain power at any cost using tactics including but certainly not limited to treachery, lies, coercion, theft and murder, both overt and subtle.\u00a0The prince\u2019s goals justify any means of accomplishment, ethical implications notwithstanding.<\/p>\n

To Machiavelli, fear is more important than love; and instilling fear into one\u2019s subordinates and competitors is how to maintain power.<\/p>\n

Our problem is, Machiavelli has been and is treated as a role model, both overtly and behaviorally, in and by any number of different power entities.\u00a0Machiavelli\u2019s tactics may be effective, but why is he still presented as ideal in any way?\u00a0What real values does this reflect?<\/p>\n

All of this works in favor of the wealthy and powerful. The rest of us need to stay as aware as possible and consider our possibilities.<\/p>\n

If history is taught flatly and uncritically, society will proceed, in Howard Zinn\u2019s words, to continue \u201cas we have been going on, and then we\u2019ll have the kind of world that we have had so far, which is not good enough, a world of war and hunger and disease and inequality and racism and sexism.\u00a0We want to get away from that.\u201d \u00a0[Speech to NCSS conference, <\/em>Houston, <\/em>November 16, 2008.]<\/em><\/p>\n

This argues that if history is taught critically, allowing for ethical considerations, alternative analyses that challenge conventional thinking, and indeed idealism, a space for potential constructive change is opened up.<\/p>\n

But, to maintain power, one must justify oneself. The saying\u00a0\u201cHistory is written by the victor\u201d goes back much further than Churchill, Napoleon, or Henry VII (Tudor).\u00a0The medieval Roman church wiped out centuries of Celtic knowledge.\u00a0If the western press has it right, Chinese students are taught a perniciously distorted view of history; but so were German students under Nazi rule.\u00a0The German example, though, provides hope that some recovery is possible.<\/p>\n

So, what are our real values?\u00a0By saying \u201cAll\u2019s fair in love and war\u201d we say that in some situations the end justifies any means.\u00a0War is not always military; it\u2019s often economic, as we can amply see; and can also take other forms.\u00a0The consequences are always tragic.\u00a0And yet we proceed.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n<\/div>","rendered":"

\n

Spring 2022<\/h4>\n

Why are we where we are today?\u00a0Let\u2019s consider some vital elements of Western thinking.<\/p>\n

\u201cDivide and conquer\u201d is a strategy going back at least to Julius Caesar.\u00a0Its tactics are psychological and economic as well as military.\u00a0In the \u201cdivide and conquer\u201d paradigm, a dominant institution or subculture is predisposed to divide its subjects into competing or conflicting groups to avoid being threatened with disempowerment.<\/p>\n

For example, if poor whites are encouraged by their masters to feel superior to poor blacks, the poor whites will act out this perceived superiority on poor blacks, and at the same time be rendered impotent as a potential threat to the empowered.\u00a0Poor blacks become objectified and dehumanized by poor whites, just as yacht-laden overlords objectify and dehumanize their various political and economic subjects.\u00a0Having someone \u201clesser\u201d to feel superior to can powerfully abate one\u2019s pain.<\/p>\n

We are all familiar with the \u201cdivide and conquer\u201d strategy because of its use in our history classes going back to childhood.\u00a0Of course, how this paradigm is applied can vary by person or situation.<\/p>\n

Caesar was updated by Machiavelli in the early 1500s. For some reason, Machiavelli\u2019s \u201cThe Prince\u201d is still taught in high schools and colleges, and is understood as a model tactic for success.\u00a0In it, Machiavelli advises his \u201cprince\u201d (expanded definition: any authority) to maintain power at any cost using tactics including but certainly not limited to treachery, lies, coercion, theft and murder, both overt and subtle.\u00a0The prince\u2019s goals justify any means of accomplishment, ethical implications notwithstanding.<\/p>\n

To Machiavelli, fear is more important than love; and instilling fear into one\u2019s subordinates and competitors is how to maintain power.<\/p>\n

Our problem is, Machiavelli has been and is treated as a role model, both overtly and behaviorally, in and by any number of different power entities.\u00a0Machiavelli\u2019s tactics may be effective, but why is he still presented as ideal in any way?\u00a0What real values does this reflect?<\/p>\n

All of this works in favor of the wealthy and powerful. The rest of us need to stay as aware as possible and consider our possibilities.<\/p>\n

If history is taught flatly and uncritically, society will proceed, in Howard Zinn\u2019s words, to continue \u201cas we have been going on, and then we\u2019ll have the kind of world that we have had so far, which is not good enough, a world of war and hunger and disease and inequality and racism and sexism.\u00a0We want to get away from that.\u201d \u00a0[Speech to NCSS conference, <\/em>Houston, <\/em>November 16, 2008.]<\/em><\/p>\n

This argues that if history is taught critically, allowing for ethical considerations, alternative analyses that challenge conventional thinking, and indeed idealism, a space for potential constructive change is opened up.<\/p>\n

But, to maintain power, one must justify oneself. The saying\u00a0\u201cHistory is written by the victor\u201d goes back much further than Churchill, Napoleon, or Henry VII (Tudor).\u00a0The medieval Roman church wiped out centuries of Celtic knowledge.\u00a0If the western press has it right, Chinese students are taught a perniciously distorted view of history; but so were German students under Nazi rule.\u00a0The German example, though, provides hope that some recovery is possible.<\/p>\n

So, what are our real values?\u00a0By saying \u201cAll\u2019s fair in love and war\u201d we say that in some situations the end justifies any means.\u00a0War is not always military; it\u2019s often economic, as we can amply see; and can also take other forms.\u00a0The consequences are always tragic.\u00a0And yet we proceed.<\/p>\n

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