Politics, deception, corruption, and the like:

Ripple effects, when overlain and Fourier analytics applied, can become full-scale tsunamis with more impact than ever thought possible.  While certainly not as well known as other political theorists of ages gone by, Niccolo Machiavelli phenomenally influenced other philosophers and political scientists such as Hume, Nietzsche, Bacon and many others, such that, when his influence on each of these is extrapolated, the true nature of the beast may be seen.  Machiavelli wanted to rise above what he saw as a societal pandemic of passiveness concerning politics and far too many being influenced by, again what he saw as the destructive doctrine of God’s sovereignty.  He believed people should forge their own path and not treat every decision, especially political ones, with a shrug of the shoulder.  He also believed, however, for a society to be ruled well, it was important for the people to be primarily religious, though the rulers themselves should stray away from being too religious, if at all. (Ironically, this seems to be the situation in the U.S. even now.  While India is the most ‘religious’ nation overall and Sweden the least, the U.S. has been aptly described as a nation of ‘Indians ruled by a few Swedes’, religiously-speaking – that is, overall the nation is rather religious while the majority of our rulers are mostly secular.  This can obviously lead to some tension if the ox is going one way and the cart is mysteriously being pulled in the other direction.)  Nonetheless, Machiavelli also promoted deception and manipulation as advisable tactics for leaders to use, and thought it was better for a leader to be feared than loved, and even permitted for ‘innocents’ to be eliminated by their own leader if necessary.  I perhaps would have said he would have fitted in rather well on the water-boarding unit in the ranks of the C.I.A. several years ago, but now he may as well just run for president if he were alive.  The ironic part is that he would have a striking good chance, given that the good portion of the nation that is not ‘religious’, and even many who are, are all too captivated by entertainment, sports and the like to even care who their leaders are.  Can most of us name more people on our favorite sports team or T.V. show than senators or Supreme Court justices (the people who represent us at the highest level)?   If we feel like we’re in a dream, it may be time to wake up.