Nicolo Machiavelli wrote "The Prince" in 1513 to address what it meant to truly be a prince and how to rule properly. Five hundred and four years later Machiavelli's words are ringing true with the current presidency the United States Of America is facing. President Trump is a man despised, hated, booed, ridiculed, and above all else ignoble to the virtues of any leader of people. We as a people have dealt with bad presidents before, but not to the degree with which is presented before us on a daily basis today. In regards to the argument, I set forth to elaborate why President Trump is the Prince presented by Machiavelli in his book.
A prince in name, but nothing more and certainly far less.
Relying on promises brings ruin
Campaigns are built on promises between the candidate and the people. If and when the candidate is elevated to president, those promises are now cemented in place. Considering the beginnings of our country, there is a unique and special bond between the people and elected officials. Regardless of political affiliation, elections are the voice of the people. Being an elected official is meant to be a privilege to serve your constituents in the best way possible. This does not mean just Republicans or Democrats, but the people of your state or country as a whole. Coincidentally our current political figures do not hold themselves to such a special bond their office comes with.
Machiavelli wrote in chapter XVII of "The Prince" on the subject of this promise. Even though elections happen through general polling, candidates have other promises they must uphold: Promises that come with money through donations and in the case of cabinet members, their own wealth. "And that prince who relying entirely on their promises has neglected other precautions, is ruined...
friendships that are obtained by payments, and not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they are never secured and in time of need cannot be relied upon." All of President Trump's supporters among the people are fading from him and those who gained his friendship through payment are leaving him too. Promises to the people are more profound than those of your donors and those decisions will bring you up or crash you down.
Ruin
Currently, we as a people are in a time of need. Healthcare, taxes, and civil issues are a few that concern the citizens of the United States of America. These issues are not possible to tackle because of promises our elected and appointed officials are beholden to. Promises in the form of "friendship that are obtained by payments." These promises somehow supersede the sacred promise between constituent and elected official. Among these promises or "friendships" are political donors, corporations, personal socioeconomic standing, and political parties. All of those mentioned gain an elected politician one thing, re-election. Morally how can you fault someone for trying to better themselves in this great country by those means?
But you can fault them all because how can you rely on someone who is not reliant on you?
A Prince is judged by his companions
Power is generally centralized around the Executive branch in the United States. Within this branch exists cabinet members who oversee the running and maintenance of a number of bureaucratic departments. Machiavelli asserts that when observing a Prince, the first opinion generated is by those surrounding him. The men and women of Trump's cabinet give a very startling opinion. Combined net worth of current cabinet members is $4.3 billion. Averaging that out between the 16 members it is $265,625,000 million each.
In every society, there are those who are rich and those who are poor.
Machiavelli called them nobles and the people. With the will of the people, a leader has the ability to overcome all adversaries. In this case, President Trump does not have the will of the people. More importantly, he has surrounded himself with some of the wealthiest people in our country. Now I understand it is ever so difficult in the current world to obtain political office without money or backing of those with money, but the case can be made that those picked were without proper background or knowledge to justly execute the offices to which they have been put.
Since the cabinet members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, it is imperative that these people are the very best to fulfill their roles.
The president is elected by the people and as the first citizen of the United States of America owes it to his constituents to select the best. There is nothing more important as a president than to surround yourself with the actual best people for cabinet positions. In addition, if those cabinet members are emboldened to another or even the president, there is no way to remedy that.
The reality
Machiavelli lived during a time when it was easy to figure out who was going to rule just by the power they had, and money. There is one similarity that sticks out above all the differences is that money is always involved in politics one way or another - nobles during Machiavelli's time and millionaires in the modern era.
Tying politics to money is like telling someone to take a long walk on a short pier. The mone,y much like the bridge, will only be there for a short time - supporting you while the person walking the bridge is the people without support now trying to tread water. The government does not have to participate in every part of our lives, but as a government by the people and for the people, it should be looking out for everyone, not just the ones who support its politicians. The case for a new viewpoint on the current political crisis has been made but now it is up to the people to decide what to do about it.
