PART ONE OF MACHIAVELLI BY KENNETH SCOT STREMSKY I post some of my comments after some excerpts. The following is from Niccolo Machiavelli's Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius. The following excerpt comes from pages 168 and 169 of The Portable Machiavelli translated by Peter Bondanella and Mark Musa. "I am sending you a gift which, even though it may not match the obligations I have to you, is, without a doubt, the best that Niccolo Machiavelli can send to you; in it I have expressed all I know and all that I have learned from long experience and continuous study of wordly affairs. And since it is not possible for you or anyone else to ask more of me, you cannot complain if I have not given you more. You may very well complain about the poverty of my wit when my arguments are weak, and about the fallacious quality of my judgement if, in the course of my reasonings, I often manage to deceive myself. This being the case, I do not know which of us should be less obliged to the other: whether I should be so to you, who have encouraged me to write what I never would have written by myself, or you to me, since I may have written without satisfying you. Take this, then, as you would accept something from a friend: there one considers the intention of the sender more than the quality of the thing which is sent. And rest assured that in this venture I have one consolation, for I believe that although I may have deceived myself in many of its particulars, in one matter I know that I have not made an error; that is, to have chosen you above all others to whom I should dedicate these Discourses of mine, both because in so doing I believe that I have shown my gratitude for the benefits I have received and because I felt that I had departed from the common practice of those who write and always address their works to some prince and, blinded by ambition and by avarice, praise him for all his virtuous qualities when they ought to be blaming him for all his bad qualities. So, to avoid this mistake, I have chosen not those who are princes but those who, because of their numerous good qualities, deserve to be princes; not those who might shower me with offices, honors, and wealth, but those who, although unable, would like to do so. If men wish to judge correctly, they must esteem those who are generous, not those who are potentially generous; and, in like manner, they must esteem those who know how to rule a kingdom, not those who, without knowing how, have the power to do so. Thus, historians praise Hiero the Syracusan more when he was a private citizen than they do Perseus of Macedonia when he was a king: for Hiero lacked nothing to be prince save a kingdom, while the other had no attribute of a king except his kingdom. Therefore, enjoy this good or bad work which you yourselves have requested; and if you persist in erroneously finding pleasure in my opinions, I shall not fail to follow this with the rest of the history, as I promised you in the beginning. Farewell." MY COMMENTS Niccolo Machiavelli said in the previous excerpt better than I can say why I have included as much information on this website as I do. My favorite poem is IF by Kipling because it discusses the man I try to be. Niccolo Machiavelli realized what you do with what you have is more important than who your ancestors were. The following excerpt is from pages 169 and 170 of The Portable Machiaveli. "Because of the envious nature of man, it has always been no less dangerous to discover new methods and institutions than to explore unknown oceans and lands, since men are quicker to criticize than to praise the deeds of others. Nevertheless, driven by that nature I have always felt to work on whatever might prove beneficial to everyone, I have determined to enter a path which has not yet been taken by anyone; although it may bring me worry and difficulty, yet I may find my reward among those who study kindly the goal of these labors of mine. And if my feeble intelligence, my limited experience of current events, and my weak knowledge of ancient ones should make this attempt of mine defective and of little us, it may, at least, show the way to someone with more ability, more eloquence, and more judgement who will be able to fulfill my intention; so that if I do not earn praise, I should not receive blame." MY COMMENTS I hope that many people will benefit from my knowledge. I hope that many candidates in the future who may be better people than I am will use what I have said on my website to help them win elective office and make our country and world better than they are know. I believe that all humans benefit when knowledge is freely shared. I believe that governments harm all of us when governments allow companies to limit freedom of speech and the free exchange of ideas. I think many members of Congress often forget they work for the American people and not campaign contributors. I believe Congress should make sure that the FREE AND FAIR USE OF INFORMATION whether the information be from books, articles, websites, movies, and other sources of information is part of copyright law. People should be able to freely quote the works of others when the people give the creators credit for their quotes and the people do not charge for their works. People should be able to make copies of the works of others and distribute them for free. People should not be allowed to sell works that include the creations of another without that person's consent if the person is alive. The following quote comes from pages 197 and 198 of The Portable Machiavelli. "This example shows how detestable false accusations are in free cities, as well as in every other form of government, and how no institution which controls such accusations should be overlooked. Nor is there a better means of removing the possibility of false accusations than by establishing many outlets for them; for public charges benefit republics as much as false accusations harm them; and there is this difference between the one and the other: false accusations have no need either of witnesses or of any other particular corroboration to prove them, so that anyone can be slandered by anyone else, but no one can be publicly charged in this manner since such accusations require true corroborations and circumstances which demonstrate the truth of the charges. Men are publicly accused before magistrates, before the people, and before governmental councils; they are slandered in the squares and among the colonnades of the loggias. These false accusations are used more where public charges are less frequent and wherever cities are less organized to provide for them. Therefore, an organizer of a republic should arrange things in such a way that public charges can be made against any citizen without fear or hesitation; and when a charge has been made and thoroughly examined, he must severely punish false accusers, who have no right to complain of this since they had the chance to make accusations publicly and chose to make false accusations in the loggias. And wherever this function of government has not been well organized, great disorders always follow, for slander irritates but does not punish citizens, and those who are irritated will think of avenging themselves, hating rather than fearing the things that are said against them." MY COMMENTS The previous excerpt shows why negative attacks that are truthful are useful to our Republic. The previous excerpt shows why distortion politics that many candidates for elective office use harm our Republic. I hope that voters will seriously consider voting for people who use negative attacks that are truthful. I hope that voters will seriously consider not voting for candidates who use distortion politics on a regular basis. The following excerpt comes from page 203 of The Portable Machiavelli. "Among all praisworthy men, the most praiseworthy are those who were leaders and founders of religions; next come those who founded either republics or kingdoms; after these the most celebrated men are those who, commanding armies, have increased either their own kingdom or that of their native land; next to these may be placed men of letters, who, since, they are of various types, are each praised according to their merits. To other men, whose number is infinite, some portion of praise may be attributed according to the skill they possess in their art or profession. On the other hand, men who have destroyed religions, wasted kingdoms and republics, and have been enemies of virtue, letters, and every sort of profession that brings gain and honor to the human race - such as the impious, the violent, the ignorant, the useless, the lazy, and the wicked - are considered infamous and detestable; and no one will ever be so mad or so wise, so sorry or so good that, given the choice between the two kinds of men, he will not praise those who merit praise and blame those who deserve blame. Nevertheless, in the end nearly all men, deceived by a false appearance of good and a false sense of glory, allow themselves, either by their own choice or through their ignorance, to join the ranks of those who deserve more blame than praise; and while they have the possibility of establishing, to their perpetual honor, either a republic or a kingdom, they turn instead to tyranny, not realizing how much fame, glory, honor, security, tranquility, and peace of mind they are losing by such a decision, and, on the other hand, how much infamy, vituperation, blame, danger, and unrest they incur." MY COMMENTS I am trying to make our Republic greater than our Republic has ever been. I do realize that many members of our Government and many businesses do not value the civil liberties guaranteed to us by our Bill of Rights. I also realize the majority of the American citizens do not take seriously their responsibilities as citizens of the United States of America. If the majority of American citizens did take their responsibilities seriously, they would become educated on the issues, demand to know the positions of the candidates on the issues, and then vote for the best candidates instead of the candidates most likely to win when the candidates most likely to win when the candidates most likely to win are not the best candidates. If most American citizens do not take seriously their responsibilities as citizens, I will be very surprised if American citizens have many civil liberties in 2052. The following excerpt comes from pages 210 and 211 of The Portable Machiavelli. "Princes or republics that wish to maintain themselves without corruption must, above all else, maintain free of corruption the ceremonies of their religion and must hold them constantly in veneration; for there is no greater indication of the ruin of a country than to see its religious worship not respected. This is easy to understand when one realizes upon what basis the religion of the place where a man was born is founded, because every religion has the foundation of its existence in one of its main institutions. The essence of the religion of the pagans resided in the responses of oracles and upon a sect of fortune-tellers and soothsayers: all their ceremonies, sacrifices, and rites depended upon these, for it was easy for them to believe that the god who could predict your future, good or evil, could also bring it about for you. From these arose their temples, their sacrifices, their supplications, and every other ceremony used in venerating them; from this arose the oracle of Delos, the temple of Jupiter Ammon, and other famous oracles, which filled the world with admiration and devotion. Then, later, as these oracles began to speak on behalf of the powerful, their falsity was discovered by the people and men became unbelievers and were willing to upset every good institution. Therefore, it is the duty of the rulers of a republic or of a kingdom to maintain the foundations of the religion that sustains them; and if this is done it will be easy for them to keep their republic religious and, as a consequence, good and united. And they must favor and encourage all those things which arise in favor of religion, even if they judge them to be false; the more they do this the more prudent and knowledgeable in wordly affairs they will be. And because this practice has been followed by wise men, there has arisen the belief in miracles that are celebrated even in false religions; for, no matter how they originated, men always gave them greater importance than they deserved, thus causing everyone to believe in them." MY COMMENTS I believe freedom of religion increases the likelihood our Republic will have elected officials who are usually ethical and business leaders who are usally ethical. The following excerpt comes from page 219 of The Portable Machiavelli. "Another difficulty may be added to the one above: the state which becomes free makes enemies for itself but not friends. All those who profited from the tyrannical government, feeding upon the riches of the prince, become its enemies; since they have had their privileges taken away from them, they cannot live contented and are each forced to try to reestablish the tyranny in order to return to their former authority. Nor will such a state acquire friends, as I have said, for a free government presupposes honors and rewards based upon honest and predetermined criteria, and outside of these confers no honors or rewards; and when a person possesses those honors and advantages he believes he deserves, he does not admit an obligation to those who have rewarded him. Besides this, the common benefit that is derived by a free government is not appreciated while it is enjoyed; that is, to be able freely to enjoy ones's possessions without any fear, not to fear for the honor of one's woman or children, and not to fear for one's own safety - for no one will ever admit to owing an obligation to someone just because he is not harmed by the other person. And so, as I said above, a free and newly formed state comes to have enemies but not friends." MY COMMENTS I am trying to make our Republic more free. I am trying to decrease the influence that corporations have on politics in ways that do not harm Amendment One of the United States Constitution. I am trying to lessen the possibility that corporations will get special deals like the deals that the Regional Bell Operating Companies have received dealing with DSL access and the deals Hollywood obtained with the Digital Millenium Copyright, and the deals Hollywood is trying to obtain with the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act which lessen choice, competition, and the free flow of ideas. You may find out about the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and the Consumer Broadband Television Promotion Act by going to the Electronic Frontier Foundation website which is http://www.eff.org. The following excerpt is from pages 226 and 227 of The Portable Machiavelli. "This security, as well as the weakness of their enemies, caused the Roman people to consider favor rather than ability in choosing their consuls, and in so doing all those who knew best how to please men were attracted to that office, instead of those who knew best how to conquer the enemy; then, from those who enjoyed the most favor they descended to giving the office to those who had more power; and so, in this way, the good citizens, because of the faults of this institution, remained completely excluded from such offices. At one time a tribune or any other citizen could propose a law to the people and everyone was able to speak either for or against it before it was finally adopted. This institution was a good for so long as the citizens were good: for it was always beneficial for a citizen to be able to propose something he felt was a public good; it was equally beneficial for everyone to be able to express his opinion on the proposal so that the people, after hearing them all, could then select the best one. But when the citizens became wicked, such an institution became most harmful: for only the powerful were proposing laws, not in the name of common liberty but rather for their own power, and no one spoke against these men because they feared them. In such a way, the people were deceived or forced into decreeing their own ruin." MY COMMENTS The previous excerpt is one of the reasons why I discuss the importance of limited government as much as I do. Government should not tell us what we can do with our own bodies. Government should decrease the probability that we will harm each other. Goverment is also supposed to protect us from our domestic and foreign enemies including enemies that think it is acceptable to give significant contributions to candidates and political parties. Someday, I hope that significant contributions to candidates and political parties will be thought of as bribes and both the giver and taker of bribes will be punished. The following excerpt is from pages 227 and 228 of The Portable Machiavelli. "It was therefore necessary, if Rome wished to maintain her liberty amidst her corruption, that just as she had passed new laws in the course of her existence, she should have then created new institutions: for different institutions and ways of living must be instituted for a bad subject than for a good one, nor can a similar form exist in material which is completely different. But since these institutions must either be reformed all at once the moment they are recognized as being bad or reformed little by little before they are generally recognized as such, let me say that both of these approaches are almost impossible; for it takes a prudent man who can see defects from far off and in their initial stages in order to reform them gradually, and it is not common to find a man like this in a city; and when one is found, he may never be able to persuade others to follow what he himself understands; for men are accustomed to living in one way, and they do not want to change; and this is even more true when they cannot see the evil for themselves but have to have it explained to them by abstract arguments. As for reforming these institutions all at once, when everyone realizes that they are not good, let me say that this uselessness which is easily recognized is corrected only with difficulty; for to do this it is not enough to employ lawful means, for lawful methods are now useless; it is necessary to have recourse to extraordinary measures, such as violence or arms, and to become, before all else, prince of that city in order to be able to deal with it in one's own way. But since the reforming of a city into a body politic presupposes a good man, and becoming a prince of a republic through the use of violence presupposes an evil man - because of this fact we discover that it happens only very rarely that a good man wishes to become a prince through evil means, even though his goal may be a good one; while, on the other hand, we discover that it is equally rare for an evil man who has become prince to act correctly, for it would never enter his mind to employ that authority for a good which he has acquired by evil means." MY COMMENTS The previous excerpt explains why I want several Amendments added to the United States Constitution. I discuss these Amendments on my website. The following is from page 231 of The Portable Machiavelli. "If one desires or intends to reform the government of a city so that the reform will be acceptable and he will be able to maintain itself to everyone's satisfaction, he should retain at least the shadow of ancient customs so that it will not seem to the people that they have changed institutions, whereas in actual fact the new institutions may be completely different from those of the past; for the majority of men delude themselves with what seems to be rather than with what actaully is; indeed, they are more often moved by things that seem to be rather than by things that are." MY COMMENTS The previous excerpt explains why I want several Amendments to be added to the United States Constitution. I discuss these on my website. The following excerpt is from pages 239 and 240 of The Portable Machiavelli. "Any form of government, therefore, whether it be a republic or a monarchy, should consider in advance what kinds of adverse times are likely to befall it and the people upon whom it may have to rely in times of difficulty; and it should then treat them in just the manner it thinks it would have to treat them in case an emergency should occur. A government which acts otherwise - be it a monarchy or a republic, but especially the former - a government which believes it can win men over again with benefits the moment danger arises deceives itself; for not only will it not win them over, but it will accelerate its own ruin." MY COMMENTS If our country does not learn the previous lessen well, I believe our enemies will destroy us in the future. The following excerpt is from pages 244 and 245. "Republics, therefore, ought to have among their laws one like the following: the Venetian republic, which is among the best modern republics, has delegated authority to a small number of citizens who, in times of urgency, can deliberate among themselves and make a decision without consulting anyone else. When a republic does not have such a procedure, it must either come to ruin by following its laws or ignore the laws in order to avoid ruin; yet in a republic it is not good for something to happen which requires action outside the laws. While extraordinary measures may be beneficial at the moment, the example is nevertheless harmful, for if one forms the habit of breaking laws for a good reason, later on they can be broken for bad reasons under the same pretext of doing good. Thus, no republic will ever be perfect unless its laws make provisions for everything, and set up a remedy for every possibility and establish the means of using it. In conclusion, therefore, let me say that those republics which have not taken refuge, in times of impending danger, either in a dictatorship or in some similar authority have always come to ruin in the midst of serious difficulties." MY COMMENTS I discuss a great deal of issues because our Republic needs to be better able to deal with our domestic and foreign enemies than it is now. I discuss the type of President of the United States of America I will be on this website if I am elected. I will use executive power the way I believe executive power should be used. I will do whatever I believe is necessary to defend our Republic from our domestic and foreign enemies. The following excerpt is from page 252 of The Portable Machiavelli. "Anyone who studies present and ancient affairs will easily see how in all cities and all peoples there still exist, and have always existed, the same desires and passions. Thus, it is an easy matter for him who carefully examines past events to foresee future events in a republic and to apply the remedies employed by the ancients, or, if old remedies cannot be found, to devise new ones based upon the similarity of the events. But since these matters are neglected or not understood by those who read, or, if understood, remain unknown to those who govern, the result is that the same problems always exist in every era." MY COMMENTS One of the main reasons I think our Republic is not likely to last another 50 years is the fact that most Americans do not know much about American history, Roman history, European history, and the history of other parts of the world. Most Americans should not be proud of the fact that they are among the dumbest people in the world on the subject of history. Our Federal Government regularly makes huge blunders in domestic policies and foreign policies because of the ignorance of most Americans. I hope my website will help Americans that love our Republic help our Republic last. I also hope that my website will help people who do not want to live in a country that does not have civil liberties become educated voters. The following excerpt is from page 263 of The Portable Machiavelli. "And although Appius's wicked life merited the greatest punishment, it was nevertheless against good governmental procedure to violate the laws, especially one that had just recently been enacted; for I believe that there is no worse example in a republic than to enact a law and then not to observe it - even more so when it is not observed by the one who created it." MY COMMENTS If I am elected President of the United States of America, I will not enforce laws that are not constitutional. The following excerpt is from pages 263 and 264 of The Portable Machiavelli. "A government also does great damage when it arouses and renews each day in the minds of its citizens ill feelings over fresh injuries done to one person or another, as occurred in Rome after the decemvirate: all of the decemvirate and other citizens were, at various times, being accused and condemned to such an extent that there arose a great fear among the nobility, who felt that such condemnations would never end, not until all the members of the nobility had been destroyed. And it would have caused great trouble in the city if the tribune Marcus Duellius had not taken measures against it: he issued an edict stating that for one year it would be unlawful for anyone to cite or accuse any other Roman citizen; this reassured the entire nobility. This demonstrates how damaging it is to a republic or to a prince to hold the spirit of subjects in fear and suspense with continuous punishments and penalties. And, without a doubt, there is nothing more injurious to a government, for when men start suspecting that they are about to suffer some evil they protect themselves from dangers at any cost and become more audacious and less cautious in planning a revolution. Therefore, it is necessary either not to injure anyone or to inflict the injuries all at once, and then reassure men and give them a chance to calm down and settle their spirits." MY COMMENTS Our leaders may want to seriously consider acting on the previous advice in the future. The following excerpt is from pages 265 and 266 of The Portable Machiavelli. "As was mentioned above, the citizens of a republic who act out of ambition seek, first of all, not to be harmed, not only by private citizens but also by magistrates; to this end, they seek out friendships, acquiring them by means which appear outwardly honest-either by assisting people with money or by defending them from the more powerful-and because this action appears to be honorable, everyone is easily deceived and so no one provides any remedy against it. The result is that such a man, persevering without obstacles, attains so much power that private citizens fear him and the magistrates show him deference. And when he has risen to such a position as this, and there has, up until now, been no opposition to his greatness, then he has attained such a position that to attack him would be most dangerous, for the reasons I stated above, where I talk about the danger exists in attacking a problem that has already grown too serious in a city. The matter comes precisely to this: either you try to do away with the problem altogether, risking the danger of an immediate disaster, or you allow the problem to continue and so enter into a clear state of servitude unless, of course, death or some accident frees you. For when matters reach the stage described above and the citizens and magistrates are afraid to harm such an ambitious man and his friends, then not much effort is required to make them pass judgements in his favor and at his will. Therefore, a republic ought to have among its laws a law which sees to it that citizens are prevented from doing evil under the pretense of doing good and ensures that citizens acquire the kind of popularity which benefits and in no way harms liberty - as will be discussed in the appropriate section." MY COMMENTS The previous excerpt is why contributions made by individuals, businesses, unions, and others to candidates and political parties should be limited. The only people who should be able to contribute a great deal of money to a candidate is the candidate and the political party the candidate belongs. The following excerpt comes from page 268 and 269 of The Portable Machiavelli. "Many of the popular party, seeing the ruin of the city and finding no explanation for it, blamed it on the ambition of some powerful individuals who were encouraging disorder in order to create a government more to their own liking and thus take away liberty. And such accusers stood around the loggias and the piazzas speaking ill of many citizens, threatening that if they ever became part of the Signoria they would uncover this plot of theirs and punish them. It often happens that just such a man does rise to the highest magistracy; and when he arrives at the position he sees things more closely: he realizes where disorders come from and he recognizes the dangers they involve and the difficulty of remedying them; and once he sees that the times, not men, create disorder, he suddenly becomes a man of different character and kind, for the knowledge of particulars removes the misconception which he had taken for granted when he considered matters in general terms. Thus, those who heard him speak earlier, when he was a private citizen, and now see him silent as he occupies the highest office are convinced that this fact arose not from a truer knowledge of affairs of state but rather, from such trick or bribe by the powerful. And since this has happened to many men at many times, a proverb about the matter has grown up among the people which states: "They have one mind in the piazza and another in the palace." MY COMMENTS I realize that if I am elected a United States Senator and I do not discuss the issues at least as much as I do now people will think I have been bought. I realize that if I am elected President of the United States of America and I do not discuss the issues at least as much as I do now people will think I have been bought. The following is from page 290 of The Portable Machiavelli. "For it is your duty as a good man to teach others whatever good you yourself have not been able to do, either because of the malignity of the times or because of Fortune, in order that - since many will thus be made aware of it - someone more beloved by Heaven may be prepared to put your truth into action." MY COMMENTS I hope that my website will help candidates better liked by the American people than I am win elected office and improve our Republic. The following is from pages 293 and 294 of The Portable Machiavelli. "I shall not discuss how the Samnites watched while the Roman people conquered the Volsci and the Aequi, and in order not to be too wordy I shall mention only the Carthaginians, whoe were very powerful and enjoyed a great reputation while the Romans were fighting with the Samnites and the Tuscans, for they already held all of Africa, Sardinina, and Sicily, and had conquered part of Spain. Their power, plus the fact that they were situated far from the borders of the Roman people, never made them think of attacking Rome or of giving aid to the Samnites and the Tuscans; on the contrary, they acted as a prosperous person would act when all goes well, making treaties with the Romans and seeking their friendship. They never realized their error until the Romans, having now conquered all the peoples between themselves and the Carthaginians, began to fight with the latter over the rule of Sicily and Spain. The same thing happened to the Gauls that happened to the Carthaginians, as well as to Philip, King of the Macedonians, and to Antiochus: all of them believed that while the Roman people were occupied with another power, the other power would defeat Rome and they would have the time to defend themselves against the Romans in either peace or war. Therefore, I believe that the Fortune the Romans enjoyed in this regard would have been possible for those rulers who acted in the same way as the Romans and possessed the same ability." MY COMMENTS If our country is not considered when an evil country conquers other countries, our country should not be surprised if our country is someday conquered by that evil country. The following is from pages 295 and 296 of The Portable Machiavelli. "It is an easy matter to understand the origin of this love for free government among peoples, for experience shows that cities have never enlarged their dominion nor increased their wealth except while they have existed in freedom. It is a truly marvelous thing to consider to what greatness Athens arrived in the space of one hundred years after she freed herself from the tyranny of Pisistratus; but, above all, it is even more marvelous to consider the greatness Rome reached when she freed herself from her kings. The reason is easy to understand, for it is the common good and not private gain that makes cities great. Yet, without a doubt, this common good is observed only in republics, for in them everything that promotes it is practiced, and however much damage it does to this or that private individual, those who benefit from the said common good are so numerous that they are able to advance it in spite of the inclination of the few citizens who are oppressed by it." MY COMMENTS I believe our government will be more free when unions, corporations, and special interest organizations are not allowed to contribute money to candidates and political parties. I believe our country's economy is more likely to grow and the living standards are more likely to be increased when fewer of our elected officials are owned by corporations, unions, and special interests. The following excerpt comes from page 300 of The Portable Machiavelli. "For, as I said above, all countries and provinces living in freedom make very great progress; for wherever there is a growing population marriages are freer and more desired by men, since every man willingly procreates the children he believes he can provide for without fear that this patrimony will be taken away; he is assured that they will be born free, not slaves, and that they may, through their own ability, become great men. Wealth derived from agriculture as well as from trade increases more rapidly in a free country, for all men gladly increase those things and seek to acquire those which they believe they can enjoy once they have acquired them. Thus, it comes about that men in competition with each other think about both private and public benefits, and both one and the other continue to grow miraculously." MY COMMENTS Our government does need to regulate our economy. Our government should not regulate our economy too much. Our government should tax our citizens. Our government should not tax our citizens too much. The following is from page 309 of The Portable Machiavelli. "This method of starting war has always been common among the powerful and among those who still have respect for both their own word and that of others. For if I wish to wage war upon a prince with whom I have long-respected treaties, I can attack one of his friends with more justification and excuse than I can attack the prince, knowing for a certainty that if I attack his friend he will either resent it (and I shall fulfill my intention of waging war upon him) or not resent it, in which case he will reveal his weakness or lack of faith by not defending one of his dependents. Either one of these two alternatives suffices to lessen his reputation and to facilitate my plans." MY COMMENTS Our country may end up in wars with other countries because of the previous excerpt. The following is from pages 309 and 310 of the Portable Machiavelli. "Since anyone can begin but cannot end a war whenever he pleases, before he undertakes such action a prince should take stock of his forces and govern himself accordingly. But he should have enough prudence not to deceive himself about his forces; and he will deceive himself every time he measures them by wealth, by their location, or by the goodwill if he lacks troops of his own. For the aforementioned things surely increase your forces, but they certainly do not provide you with them, and by themselves they are nothing and are of no good whatsoever without faithful troops. For without them a great deal of money does you no good, the strength of the country does you no good, and the word and goodwill of men do not last, as they cannot be faithful to you if you cannot defend them. Every mountain, every lake, every inaccessible place becomes a plain when strong defenders are lacking. Wealth not only will not defend you, it will cause you to be plundered all the sooner." MY COMMENTS If we do not treat our soldiers well and our Veterans well, I doubt our country will have many faithful soldiers in the future. The following excerpt is from pages 329 and 330 of The Portable Machiavelli. "The necessity of the judgement imposed by the Romans is also confirmed by the sentence they pronounced on the Privernates. Two things in Livy's text should be noted: first, as was said above, that subjects should either be given benefits or destroyed; second, how much generosity of spirit and speaking the truth avails in the presence of wise men. The Roman senate gathered to pass judgement on the people of Privernum, who, having rebelled, were afterward returned by force to Roman obedience. Many citizens were sent by the people of Privernum to implore the pardon of the senate; when, in their presence, one of the senators asked one of the people: "What punishment do you think the Privernates deserve?" the citizen of Privernum replied: "That which those who feel themselves worthy of liberty deserve." To this consul answered: "But if we free you from punishment, what kind of peace can we expect to have with you?" To that the man replied: "If you grant us a good one, a loyal and lasting peace; if you give us a bad one, not an enduring one." Whereupon the wisest part of the senate, in spite of the anger of many, said "that they had been listening to the words of a brave man worthy to be free, and that they did not believe it possible for any people, or any individual, to remain longer in the condition which he deplored. Peace would be certain when it was made by men who were pacified voluntarilly, while loyalty could not be expected from anyone who was willing to reduce himself to servitude." On the basis of these words they decided that the Privernates should become Roman citizens and honored them with the privileges of citizenship, saying: "Only those who think of nothing but liberty are worthy of becoming Romans." This true and noble response pleased their noble spirits, for any other reply would have been false and base; and those who believe otherwise about men, especially about those who are accustomed to being or appearing to be free, deceive themselves in this matter; and according to this deception they make decisions which are neither good for themselves nor likely to satisfy anyone. From this cause arise the frequent rebellions and the downfall of states." MY COMMENTS When citizens of a country do not value their freedoms and their civil liberties, they will probably someday lose both their freedoms and their civil liberties. Our citizens are not as free as they should be and our citizens do not have as many civil liberties as they should have because most of our citizens do not fulfill their responsibilities as citizens. The most important responsibilities of any citizen are to have knowledge of the issues, knowledge of the positions of the candidates on the issues, and then vote with this knowledge. People who usually do not vote are enemies of our Republic, our freedoms, and our civil liberties. The following excerpt comes from page 344 of The Portable Machiavelli. "Fortune certainly does this, for when she wishes to bring about great things she chooses a man of such spirit and ability that he recognizes the opportunities she offers him. In like manner, when she wishes to bring about great disasters, she puts men there who will contribute to that downfall. And should there be someone present who could oppose her, she either kills him or has him deprived of all means to achieve anything good." The following excerpt is from pages 344 and 345 of The Portable Machiavelli. "Again, let me affirm as true, according to what is evident from all the histories, that men can assist Fortune but not oppose her; they can weave her schemes but they cannot break them. They should never give up, for not knowing her goals as she travels through crooked and unknown roads, men always have hope, and with hope they should never despair in whatever fortune and whatever difficulty they find themselves." MY COMMENTS I hope the American people will create better Fortune for themselves by electing better people to Congress and President of the United States of America. I can help our country make great use of opportunities we are given by God. The following excerpt is from page 348 of The Portable Machiavelli. "We see, therefore, both from this discussion and from what we have said many times elsewhere, what a difference there is in the method of proceeding between present republics and ancient ones. We also see miraculous losses and gains because of this, for where men possess little ability Fortune demonstrates her power all the more; and since she is changeable, republics and states often change, and they will continue to do so until someone arises so devoted to antiquity that he will rule Fortune in such a way that she will have no reason to demonstrate, with every revolution of the sun, how powerful she can be." MY COMMENTS The more knowledge voters have of the past the less likely that our country will keep making the same mistakes that our country has made in the past. The following excerpt is from pages 351 of The Portable Machiavelli. "It is a sure fact that all things of this world have a limit to their existence; but those which complete the entire life cycle ordained for them by Heaven are those which do not let their bodies fall into disorder but, rather, keep them in an orderly fashion so that no change occurs, or, if it does, it is a healthy change and not a damaging one. And since I am speaking of mixed bodies, such as republics and religious groups, let me say that those changes are healthy which bring such bodies back to their beginnings. It follows that among such states or groups, those having the best organization and longest life span are those that can often renew themselves through their own institutions or can arrive at such a renewal through some incident outside their own operation. And it is clearer than the light of the sun that without such renewals these bodies do not endure. The means of renewing them is to bring them back to their beginnings, for all the origins of religious groups, republics, and kingdoms contain within themselves some goodness by means of which they have gained their initial reputation and their first growth. Since, in the course of time, this goodness becomes corrupted, if nothing intervenes that may bring it up to the proper mark, that body is, of necessity, killed by such corruption. And doctors of medicine say, when speaking of the body of man: "Every day it absorbs something that requires a remedy from time to time." This return to beginnings, in the case of republics, is accomplished either by an external event or as a result of internal foresight." MY COMMENTS Voters may make sure that our leaders are doing the jobs we elected them to do if the voters read the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and other parts of the United States Constitution on a regular basis and make sure our leaders are obeying the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the United States Constitution. The National Archives and Records Administration website which is www.nara.gov has the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and other parts of the United States Constitution. The following excerpt is from page 354 of The Portable Machiavelli. "This return to origins in republics also arises from the simple ability of one man, without the necessity of any law moving people to action; his conduct will be of such renown and of such exemplary character that good men will desire to imitate it and evil men will be ashamed to lead a life contrary to it." MY COMMENTS I am trying to be a man of exemplary character who is able to make sure our country does not move too far from our Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the United States Constitution. I discuss many of my ethical lapses in judgement and other negative information about myself on this website because I want people to know I am usually ethical and usually truthful. My answers to questions dealing with abortion are examples of my truthfulness. I realize many candidates for elective office make campaign promises they have no intention of keeping. I plan on keeping my campaign promises. If I do not keep a campaign promise, I will probably say why I have not kept the promise and the reasons will be logical to me. The following excerpt is from pages 381 and 382 of The Portable Machiavelli. "I have often observed that the reason for the bad as well as good fortune of men is to be found in the way in which their way of working fits the times: for it is clear that in their actions some men proceed with impetuosity, others with care and caution. And since men go beyond the proper limits in both these methods, they make errors in both, not being able to follow the true path. But that man whose method of procedure, as I have said, fits the times makes fewer mistakes and enjoys a prosperous fortune, for you always act as Nature inclines you." MY COMMENTS A candidate for elective office should have very flexible campaign strategies. A candidate for elective office whose political platform is based on the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the United States Constitution is more likely to have good fortune than a candidate who changes his/mind every time a public opinion poll is discussed. I realize I will probably not have good fortune in 2002 and 2004. I believe I will eventually have good fortune. The following excerpt is from page 382 of The Portable Machiavelli. "Therefore, the truth is that a republic is of longer duration and has a much better fortune than a principality, for a republic, by virtue of its diverse citizenry, can better accomodate itself to the changeability of conditions than can a prince. For, as I have said, a man who is used to acting in one way never changes; he must come to ruin when the times, in changing, no longer are in harmony with his ways." MY COMMENTS A leader must have a political backbone and allow people to know what the backbone is. A leader must also say the leaders solves problems in many various ways. A leader must also say the leader does not have all the answers and the leader is willing to hear the views of others. A leader who never admits mistakes is more likely to cause the ruin of a country than a leader who admits mistakes and does his best to learn from them. The following excerpt is from page 386 of The Portable Machiavelli. "It always was and always will be the case that great and exceptional men are neglected in a republic during times of peace; because of the envy the reputation arising from their ability creates, there are many citizens in such times who wish to be not just their equals but their superiors." The following excerpt is from page 392 of The Portable Machiavelli. "And in considering what might have caused this, there could be a number of reasons. The first is that men desire novelty to such an extent that those who are doing well wish for change as much as those who are doing badly; for, as was mentioned earlier - and it is true - men become bored in good times and complain in bad ones. This desire, then, opens the gates to anyone who puts himself at the head of some innovation in a province: if he is a foreigner, everyone runs to follow him; if he is a native, they crowd around him, increasing his strength, and grant him their favor to such an extent that in whatever manner he proceeds he succeeds in making great progress in those places. Besides this, men are driven by two major impulses: either by love or by fear. And so, people can be commanded by someone who makes himself loved just as easily as they can be led by someone who makes himself feared; but in most cases a man who makes himself feared is better followed and more readily obeyed than one who makes himself loved." MY COMMENTS I believe the smart elected officials wants to be loved by some people and feared by other people. I believe a smart elected official is willing to punish those that love the elected official when they are wrong the same way they punish those that fear the elected official when they are wrong. I also believe a smart elected official should be willing to reward those who fear the elected official the way the elected official rewards those who love the elected official. A smart elected official wants to be known as a fair elected official who will use force when the leader believes the use of force is necessary. The people are more likely to support a leader who is both loved and feared than a leader who is only loved or only feared. The following excerpt is from pages 400 and 401 of The Portable Machiavelli. "For example, when Minutius, the consul, and his army were besieged by the Aequi, Rome was so filled with fear that the army might be lost that they decided to appoint a dictator - the last resource in any difficult situation. They selected Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus, who at that time was on a small farm that he worked with his own hands. The event is celebrated by Livy with these golden words: "This should be heeded by all who disparage every human thing in comparison to riches and who have no use for honor or skill unless wealth flows in abundance." Cincinnatus was plowing his little farm, which was not longer than four jugers, when the legates of the senate arrived from Rome to advise him of his election to the dictatorship and to show him in what danger the Roman republic found itself. He put on his toga and went to Rome, where he gathered together an army and went off to free Minutius; after defeating and despoiling the enemy and freeing the consul, he forbade the besieged army to take part in the pillaging, saying these words to them: "I do not want you to take part in the pillaging of those by whom you were almost despoiled." He took the consulate away from Minutius abd made him a legate, saying to him: "You will remain in this rank until you learn to know how to be a consul." And he made Lucius Tarquinius his master of horse, who fought on foot because of his poverty. And so it is evident that poverty was honored in Rome, and that for a good and valiant man like Cincinnatus four jugers of land were enough to support him." MY COMMENTS I do not know why our country thinks people who have great monetary wealth are better than people who do not have much monetary wealth. The only wealth that truly matters is public character wealth because you are able to take that with you when you die. Monetary wealth does not have much value because you can not take monetary wealth with you when you die. God does not care about great wealth. God does care about public character wealth. The following is from page 411 of The Portable Machiavelli. "This thought deserves to be noted and put into practice by any citizen who has occasion to advise his country, for when the entire safety of one's country is at stake, there should be no consideration of just or unjust, merciful or cruel, praiseworthy or disgraceful; on the contrary, putting aside every form of respect, that decision which will save her life and preserve her liberty must be followed completely." MY COMMENTS I will do whatever I believe is necessary to defend our country from its domestic and foreign enemies. The following excerpt is from page 413 of The Portable Machiavelli. "Prudent men often say, neither casually nor groundlessly, that anyone wishing to see what is to come should examine what has been, for all the affairs of the world in every age have had their counterparts in ancient times. This is because these affairs are carried on by men who have, and have always had, the same passions and, of necessity, the same results come from them. It is true that their actions are more effective at one time in this province than in another, and more in that than in this one, according to the kind of education from which those people have taken their way of living. Knowing future affairs is also facilitated by knowing past ones, especially when a nation has maintained the same customs for a long time - for example, being continuously greedy or fraudulent or having some other similar vice or virtue." MY COMMENTS People who want to do the most good in the future need to know a great deal about the past. I discuss Machiavelli more on Part Two of My Discussion of Machiavelli.