The Ideas Promoted by Machiavelli Hold True to the Modern World Today

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Niccolò Machiavelli, born on the third day of May 1469 was an Italian author of numerous plays, comedies, poetry and other works. However, his work, The Prince, was the most famous of all his literary compositions. In this book, Machiavelli, describes ways to attain and hold power, through which a prince can maintain a working government and relations with outsides foreign states. He states many rules to Power Politics, based on the belief that a state's leader should think logically and act upon that logic with the same convictions. Some of the ideas from The Prince are considered, by some, to be quite brutal, but no matter the moral relativity of his philosophy, many of these ideas still ring true in the world today. Machiavelli wrote these rules for politics nearly 500 years ago, but they are still used by governmental leaders worldwide to dictate such institutes as foreign policy, political popularity, and national security. The United States of America in particular has implemented and followed through on many of the philosophies. The U.S. government has funded 'secret' missions to Guatemala to attempt assassination on an elected leader, has participated in nation building through the conquest and occupation of Iraq in the interest of economic and geographic strategic gain, and has discreetly reallocated tax payers funds to pay for the economic downfall yet kept American citizens happy by providing multiple tax incentives. All of these actions are plays directly out of The Prince, ensuring the ability to do what is in the best interests of the nation, however morally objectionable, while keeping the continued public approval and contentment of the American citizens. To begin with, Machiavelli states that a leader must sometimes act badly, but keep the appearance that he is doing good. His basic idea was that the ends shall justify the means as long as
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