Would Machiavelli or Lao Tzu’s Principles Have Greater Success Leading a Country?

707 Words3 Pages
When you compare the two men’s principles to each other, neither seems as if they would be very successful. Machiavelli using past Kings leadership skills and Lao Tzu using methods based on the Tao means they have very different views on just about everything. Having to choose one, Machiavelli’s seem more realistic and sensible. They both mention their views on money, war, and how to control their people; mercy or cruelty. Machiavelli said repeatedly that the leader should not worry about being called a ‘miser’, which is a person who hoards wealth and spends as little money as possible, or a greedy person, because of the fact that they are saving the money for war themselves so they do not have to collect excessive taxes from their people. Most people would greatly accept this graciously. Lao Tzu, on the other hand, did not believe the leaders should keep any money for themselves. He believed in spending it on the people to keep them happy. The leader should not be worried about material things anyway, according to him. Giving the people the money would keep the people out of poverty and crime rates would not be high. That was important in his methods. He also spent little to no money on weapons and war nor did he believe in charging the people much for taxes. Lao Tzu only cares about the people not hating their leader because that will cause troubles so he decides not to take their money and give them whatever they need. This is not a good idea. It will not help the people learn that they need to work for it themselves. They are just given everything. War was also a big topic in both of their views. Machiavelli said that war should be one of many professions a prince should have as a leader. Lao Tzu did not. He did not want anything to do with violence because he thought forcing anyone would make them want to have revenge on them. “No greater wrong than

More about Would Machiavelli or Lao Tzu’s Principles Have Greater Success Leading a Country?

Open Document