Machiavelli’s The Prince Essay

In Machiavelli’s The Prince, he plunged into how a prince could bulwark his position once he reaches the top. One of the many ways of how to secure a prince’s position is conquest by criminal virtue. In conquest by criminal virtue, Michiavelli said that a prince secures his position when he reaches the top because it takes a long time and a lot of hard work to prosper. So to make sure no one takes away their position, the prince crushes his opponents and earns obeisance from the people as much as possible. The prince also makes fewer compromises with their allies, trying to stand alone because he believes he is more sufficient and stronger than the others. A prince must also know how to reform orders. This may cause havoc because people who benefited the old order might oppose the prince but he must have the power to force the people to continue supporting him even though they are already having second thoughts. So why does this persist even though every politician and every citizen who thinks rationally knows that this is immoral. We humans are naturally driven by our hunger for power, fame and fortune. We set aside moral values and ethical values just to quench our self-interests. Politicians act on it because they know this is the easiest way to eliminate a threat. This is a permanent thing so when an enemy ceases to exist, he’s permanently gone from the competition and this gives the other politician a peace of mind because he knows that he will win for sure if he has no opponent. Citizens do not act upon this because first, citizens that belong to the lower class are afraid. How could they go against someone so powerful that this person could end their life with just a snap of their fingers? The span and extent of power of this kind of politician is vague that it might extend to having the upper hand and control over criminals and we never know what he will do just to preserve his power, fame and fortune. Second, most citizens who know about the wrong doings of this politician is paid and given a lot of consolations for their support and silence. As I said, we humans are naturally driven by our hunger by fortune. For people who do not work and believe in gaining money from a real job, this is the most convenient way of earning money because they don’t have to do anything but tay silent, run a few errands for the politician and write the politician’s name on their ballot every time he runs for a seat. There is also the fact that when local citizens support this politician, they are more secured and well protected. People who try to clash with these local citizens would already feel threaten beforehand because the politician will back them up in part of their deal for the secrecy of the politician’s dirty work. This is one of the most immoral acts performed in politics, but one that somehow we can never get rid of.