Aristotle And Machiavelli A Take On The Timeless...

Aristotle and Machiavelli: A Take on the Timeless Political Issue of Class Invoking his penchant for statistics and an eye for the common man, Senator Bernie Sanders spent his campaign highlighting disparity and inequality between one percenters and the average America. Time and time again, Sanders highlighted two facts: first, that the top one-tenth of the one percent holds as much wealth as the other 99.9% of Americans, and that during the recent economic downturn, most of the new income generated has gone back into the hands of Wall Street. The oncome polarity between these groups of Americans has never been this large, Sanders asserts. While one can agree or agree to disagree, the questions surrounding money, social strata, and the†¦show more content†¦It was under these circumstances that he not only witnessed, but also experienced that inspired his writing. The Prince contains many rules, themes, and historical anecdotes one must be aware of to be the Machiavellian prince one of the most important being the idea of relationship between the fe w vs. many, the oppressor vs. the oppressed, the Greats vs the People, and other relationships within a society. In chapter IX, Machiavelli argues that oppression as a means for gaining power is the many desire of the power-hungry individual. While no one wishes to be oppressed, man is simply incapable of doing unto others as one would want unto himself. In other words, men will always put down those who are weaker and oppress the less powerful. Machiavelli then attempts to deconstruct the conflict posing two key questions to be answered: Why are those who are already in a position of power, the Greats, so inclined to pick on the little guy? And furthermore, if this cannot be rectified, how does a society to the best of its ability protect the disenfranchised People from the Greats? Machiavelli suggests that the only remedy for the inevitable instability within societies is extreme order and consolidated power for efficiency. As previously discussed, this may mean that principles such as justice and fairness may need to take the backseat, but all for the greater good according to Machiavelli. The desire to oppress, he argues is natural