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the prince - Coggle Diagram

- - - - a hereditary principality rests upon total loss of historical consciousness, to the point where it is taken for granted, this society is something that happens naturally, not human innovation through conquests or a new founding,
        
        hence arose the frequent rebellions in france, spain, greece against the romans because of the numerous principalities that existed in those states. as long as their memory lasted, the romans were always uncertain of their possession (conquest). but when their memory was eliminated, with the power and long duration of the empire the romans became secure possessors of them.
        
        a conquering prince if he decided to target for conquests a free people (republican people) how should he go about doing it if he is going to be successful? --> a city accustomed to living free, if he does not destroy the free people he should expect to be destroyed by it.
        
        for it always has as a refuge in rebellion, the name of liberty and its own ancient orders which are never forgotten. free people love their liberty and never forget the value of being free, you will never eliminate that memory. either leave the free people alone or utterly destroy the political society.
        
        whatever one does or provides for, unless the citizens are broken up or dispersed they will never forget that name or the customary ways of life and will immediately recur to them upon any accident. any chance the free people have, they will seek to restore the liberty because they never forget.
        
        but when cities or provinces are used to living under a prince, they are used to obeying, and they do not have the old prince, and cannot make one themselves, and they do not know how to live free.
        
        1 more item...
        
        political liberty: people making up the rules that they are going to live by. republicanism
- - - - when conquering you need to find the the people who hate the current prince
- - - - not enough to have diagnosis, how will you bring it to an end and establish law and order? what b did, others learned from b and modeled their action after what he did. since that province was quite full of roberries, quarrels, and every kind of insolence (disobedience) he judged that it was necessary to give it good government. if he wanted to reduce it to peace and obedience.e if he wants toe to exercise political power, he needs to replace lawlessness with good governance and law and order.
        
        hired romerio and gave him power. can do things that are cruel. in a short time, romerio reduced it to peace and unity with the greatest reputation for himself.
        
        b worries that hatred of r would come back to him. it was b who empowered r, so b also has to fear r will disempower him. b creates a court system and has r tried and convicted and killed. had him cut up into pieces and had pieces displayed in the town square. the ferocity of this spectacle left the people at once satisfied and stupified.
        
        if i summed up all the actions of b, i would not know how to reproach (blame, disapprove, object, criticize) him. -> b thought when you harm (offend) you can make up by offering benefit. he could have prevented julius from becoming pope. he had offended j by helpin put j into power he thoiught j would have forgot. he violated the power rule. b erred in this choice and it was the cause of his ultimate ruin, he is not above reproach.
        
        violated the power rule because he was motivated morally
- - - - the prince should make himself feared in such a way that if he does not acquire love, he escapes hatred because being feared and not being hated can go very well together. fear and hatred are not necessarily connected. great to be loved, but if you have to choose it is better to be feared. the lover is dependent upon having love bestowed upon him by the beloved. just because you love, no guarantee you will be loved in return. the beloved knows the power they have over the lover.
        
        cause of hatred: if the prince takes or tries to take from the people what they consider their own. avoid taking property from the people. also family. avoid being rapacious, stealing. liberality leads to hatred. if he is going to do things, he needs resources -> taxation. to avoid becoming a thief: borrow from other countries, violates power rule
        
        a wise prince must avoid liberality, be stingy. if being liberal, he distributes good things. where does he get the resources to get the good things so he can distribute them to demonstrate his generosity. he will end up having to steal from the people.
        
        whether fortresses are useful or useless. the best fortress is not to be hated by the people. a liberal prince will be hated by the people. avoiding hatred by the people is the best fortress.
        
        a prince that avoids hatred by the people will never be destroyed by a conspirator
        
        another cause: the women. a prince who attacks the women will be hated. the men are dishonored. they look upon themselves with honor when they can protect the weak. if the prince attacks the women he will be hated.
- - - - contrasting perspectives: all political life is a relation between ruler and ruled. the ruled are like the valley, below. the ruler is like the mountain, high, ruling over the people. every political society is a class society: ruling and ruled.
- - - - moses was able to accomplish the most difficult, dangerous, and likely to fail. many have had ambition to found new political order, almost none have pulled it off.
        
        from this it arises that all the armed prophets conquered and the unarmed ruined.
        
        founders are prophets because they can see that society won't continue without intervention and founding of new political order. and can achieve it through his own virtue. armed because you are going to have enemies from those that do not want change. even those you can persuade, that persuasion doesn't stick when things get rough.
- - - - hence it is necessary to a prince if he wants to maintain himself to learn to be able not to be good. for a man who wants to make a profession of good, must come to ruin among as many who are not good.
        
        if everyone was good, a prince would have no reason to not be good. but when so many are immoral, a prince who wants to remain moral is going to be destroyed. hence, a prince has to learn how not to be good.
        
        and if all men were good (morally) this teaching (learn to not be good) would not be a good teaching if all human beings were moral, but they're not.
        
        chiron: be humane, but be beastly when you have to be. that's why the teacher is party human, part beast. be like lion (king) and like fox (clever, deceptive)
        
        two kinds of combat. one with laws, the other with force. with laws is proper to man, human beings. animals don't operate to the rule of law. with force is beastly. because the first is often not enough, one must have recourse to the second.
        
        machiavelli is modern chiron
        
        but because he cannot have the moral characteristics, since human conditions do not permit it, it is necessary for him to be so prudent to be able to distance oneself from these natural or social constraints on action. so when necessity requires, the prince is able to do what morality would otherwise forbid.
      - he is virtuous (politically) and not virtuous (morally)
      - i believe that this comes from cruelties (opposite of merciful), badly used or well used. what is it to use cruelty well? to do it at a stroke out of the necessity to secure oneself. a knows how, when necessity requires, to use cruelty, to be immoral. not a psychopath, can recognize necessity and do evil. do this not for your own selfish end, but for those over whom you rule. so they benefit and don't come to hate you and overthrow you.
      - people who violate the power rule do so because of morality. a never relies on the power of others.