Machiavellian Pragmatism
Lord Acton said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men..." In 1513 Nicolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince, otherwise known as The Little Book, a diabolical manual for gaining power and holding power mercilessly. Perhaps Machiavelli was the inspiration for Lord Acton’s comment because in The Prince Machiavelli advocates meanness as a means of rising to power and holding power.
I take my information from The Prince, translated by W.K. Marriott. Machiavelli was an astute student of history, of scripture, of human nature, and of the rise and fall of governments. Putting conscience aside, he describes the ruthless methods of those who gain power, those who lose power, and those who hold power.
Alarmingly, during the last decade, as I have observed the drive of the social democrats for open socialism and a new world order, I was reminded of the methods recommended by Machiavelli to the Medici, so again I consulted “The Little Book.” It describes the modern political scene in America far more than I suspected.
My list, taken from The Prince, contains the most common techniques adopted by all those who seek ruthless power. You can find the full list in Chapters 6 and 7 of Volume II Democracy. It is startling to see how many of the Machiavellian rules are being used by our ambitious politicians today as they seek to destroy America and replace it with socialism. We see it manifest particularly in the left’s attempt to destroy President Trump. Machiavelli could have used the left as a model.
Machiavelli did not create the rules of power. Machiavelli merely describes the techniques of those who put conscience aside and successfully gain power and hold on to that power by following their natural instincts. All they must do is to put aside absolute moral law and replace it with a sliding conscience, allowing the end to justify the means. Next, they must gather friends around them and enter into the bonds of collusion and secrecy.
In a fallen world, such as ours, absolute power can be gained in no other way than by what I call Machiavellian Pragmatism.
Generally speaking, ‘pragmatism’ means to do whatever works. Machiavellian Pragmatism means that the ends justify the means, which I call Machiavellian Rule Number One; therefore, any method, whether good or evil, kind or cruel, peaceful or violent, is justified in gaining power and holding power.
In 2017, Democratic Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, no doubt criticizing the tactics of opponents, ironically accurately, though I am sure unintentionally, describes how the liberals treated Justice Brett Kavanaugh. She said, “We call it the ‘wrap-up smear.’ You smear somebody, with falsehoods and all the rest, and then you merchandise it. And then you write it, and then they’ll say ‘See? It’s reported in the press that this, this, this and this,’ so they have that validation that the press reported the smear, and then it’s called the ‘wrap-up smear.’ Now I’m going to merchandise the press’s report on the smear that we made.” Anyone, of course, of either side of the aisle who uses such smear tactics is practicing Machiavellian Pragmatism.
Machiavellian Pragmatism is amoral. It ignores conscience, morality, God, good and evil, truth, virtue, fairness, decency, justice, mercy, right or wrong, ethics, law, or prudence. It employs lies, machinations, slander, inuendo, character assassination, exploitation, collusion, conspiracy, deceits, fabrications, defamation, abuse, or any other form of coercion and intimidation. Machiavellian pragmatism is becoming more and more apparent in the actions of those who want to destroy our republic and replace it with socialism.
