America's 21st Century Machiavellian Moment
A Call for a
Return To First Principles, An Introduction
1. Introduction: The Relevancy of the Writings of Niccolò Machiavelli to 21st century America
In his seminal work, The Machiavellian Moment (1975), historian, J.G.A. Pocock, examines how the political ideas of seventeenth and eighteenth century political thought in England resonated with our nation's founders. As summarized by Wikipedia, "A "Machiavellian moment" is that moment when a new republic first confronts the problem of maintaining the stability of its ideals and institutions." Pocock lays out the essential problem of government. That is, how long can any government remain in existence? Pocock used the Discourses on Livy, written by Niccolò Machiavelli in 1531, as one of his primary source materials.
In Discourses on Livy, Third Book, Chapter 1, Machiavelli, cites a given of his age. "It is a most true thing that all the things of the world have to have an ending to their existence." In referring to governments, Machiavelli holds out the hope of longevity only when "renewing them ..., is to bring them back to their (original) principles." The Florentine adds, "This turning back to principles ((speaking of Republics)) is caused either by an extrinsic accident or by an intrinsic prudence."
In The First Book, Chapter 2, "Of the Kinds of Republics There Are, and of Which Was The Roman Republic," Machiavelli defines the three most common types of government that were found in Western Europe. "Principality (Monarchy), of the Best (Aristocracy), and Popular (Democracy)," were cited. He noted that each form of government has a tendency to devolve into its own unique form of tyranny. He declares "Principality easily becomes a tyranny, autocracy easily become State of the Few (oligarchies), and the Popular (Democracy) without difficulty is converted into a licentious one (anarchy)." Machiavelli then lays out what became the intellectual foundation for our American republic. "... they selected one (form) that should partake of all, they judging it to be more firm and stable, because when there is in the same City (government) a Principality, an Aristocracy, and a Popular Government (Democracy), one watches the other." Indeed, our second President, John Adams, borrowed heavily from Machiavelli in his, Defence of the Constitutions, (1787) "CHAPTER FOURTH. MACHIAVEL’S PLAN OF A PERFECT COMMONWEALTH." The purpose of The Constitution of the United States, according to John Adams was the creation of a "Balanced Government," as the title of Chapter 11 implies. Quoting Adams below:
"The constitutions of several of the United States, it is hoped,
will prove themselves improvements both upon the Roman, the Spartan, and
the English commonwealths."
The generation and corruption of
governments,..demonstrate the corruptibility of every species of simple
government, by which I mean a power without a check, whether in one, a
few, or many.
But perhaps it might be more exactly true and
natural to say, that the king, the aristocracy, and the people, as soon
as ever they felt themselves secure in the possession of their power,
would begin to abuse it.
So, we have in here in the USA, circa 2024, a corruption of the basic principles upon which this nation was founded. Or, John Adams so presciently observed in 1787: "... it must be remembered, that the rich are people as well as the poor..." Now, our country has allowed an aristocracy to amass more power and influence than is healthy for our republic. A return to the first principles of what governments are required to provide for its people is demanded. The people must be a check on the growing unbridled dominance of what I call a "Tech Bro" aristocracy.
Gerald Reiff