Stupid!
During a Seinfeld show, Jerry goes to a priest to complain that a member of the priest's church converted from Christianity to Judaism just to tell jokes about Jews. The priest asks "and does this offend you as a Jew?" to which Jerry answers "no! It offends me as a comedian!"
That's pretty much how I feel toward our government. The government actions offend me as a Machiavellian, not only as a citizen.
Take for example the recent Student Unions' fiasco. The security forces (working on auto pilot apparently) had taken students off the ballots of student unions' elections. Just like that. Violence erupted everywhere, and now they can't contain it (not without the usual excursions of Amn Markazy soldiers). The government is blaming the Muslim Brotherhood for the violence, and the Brotherhood (sounds like something straight out of medieval, huh?) is, as usual, playing the victim. It is repetitive. And it is tiring.
So, here is an idea for our cute government officials: Take your hand off the student unions. And while at it, give them some real power to question professors, and university officials about the quality of the education they are receiving.
Of course you may dismiss these suggestions as liberal, or even, God forbid, progressive. But no…we Machiavellians don’t think like that. Let’s face it: those hacks won’t be able to fix something which the NDP great minds weren’t able to even dent forward (education), so no fear there. They might actually get on the back of some loud university professors who (sometimes) demand such things as education reform, and freedom of academic expression, blah, blah, blah…What’s more important is that they will be dismissed as jokes by other students who won’t bother to go vote for them, (or anybody for that matter) come next elections. So you see, there will be zero political participation in the long run, or as NDP papas would call “a step forward”
Q.E.D.
posted by TB at
3:42 AM
2 Comments:
Not really! You see, the main problem is the MB has power over lots of students now in Universities & controls them. Once those kids get elected it wil be farcical scenes, they will push the MB agenda & further enlist others & cause numerous problems.
I cant see any machiavellian patterns in anything these days, seems like chaos to me.
By
jokerman, at
November 04, 2006 2:02 PM
In case you guys haven't noticed, you already have a Machiavellian government. They are just a bit inept, that's all :)
From Wikipedia:
First, he specified that the only acceptable end was the stabilization and health of the state; individual power for its own sake is not an acceptable end and does not justify evil actions.
Student movements are clearly a threat to the security and stabilty of a state, particularly a totalitarian state. We have seen countless examples of student movements overturning the social order (Vietnam era in the US for example) or toppling governments (Revolution in Iran in 1979, for example) - so there is no question that the Egyptian government can't tolerate an Islamist opposition movement taking over the Universities. Your argument that they would render themselves powerless if they did so goes against historical precedence.
Second, Machiavelli does not dispense entirely with morality nor advocate wholesale selfishness or degeneracy. Instead he clearly lays out his definition of, for example, the criteria for acceptable cruel actions (it must be swift, effective, and short-lived).
Swift. Effective. Short-Lived.
They should all be rounded up and either imprisoned or exiled, or killed. And that should have been done the day they became a problem.
That is, if one is to follow Machiavellian advice for a totalitarian state, as it's laid out in "the Prince".
I kinda wish the US was Machiavellian, sometimes. A short but sharp bloodbath might have had Iraq on it's feet fairly painlessly... 3.5 years ago!
By
programmer craig, at
January 03, 2007 11:39 AM
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