THE PRINCE – Be sure to have read the Prince by Machiavelli. Is it better to be FEARED or LOVED as a leader? Discuss and provide support or reasons for your ideas.
West and the World is a survey course examining 500 years of World History from 1500 to present day.
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Liberty Leading the People
The above painting depicts Liberty leading the way. All social classes (except the monarchy) participated in the revolt, as communicated by the variety of hats worn by the street fighters. See if you can pick out the factory worker, the young man waving two pistols (wearing the black beret traditionally worn by university students), and the bourgeois middle class gentleman in the top hat.
Liberty herself steals the show. Not only is she a symbol of bravery, persistence, and leadership, but she reminds us that women played an indispensable role in the events of July 1830. She too wears a hat, her Phyrgian cap, was a widely recognized symbol of liberty during the French Revolution. Although often linked to the French Revolution, this battle scene from 1830 is a revolt in response to Charles X and his plans to return to some of the systems from pre-revolutionary France.
In my opinoin, it is better to be feared as a leader. It is just like any role of leadership. Your job is seperate from your life, similarily to a position as a boss in a workplace. You want to have your followers respect you and know that you are willing to punish or correc them if they disrespect you.
For the type of government Machiavelli discusses, it is better to be feared then loved. This isn’t true of all government however, as in democracy or similar form where there is a regular turnover of leadership it would be better to be loved as it is the affection of the subjects alone that keeps one in power. For a monarchy or dictatorship, as Machiavelli describes, it is better to be feared as it is through order that you keep control, and you wouldn’t need to be as concerned about public opinion as you would in other situations, as you wouldn’t have to worry about getting reelected. In brief, Machiavelli’s principles are correct in certain situations, but as a general guide for all government and leadership are insufficient.
To be the best leader, you must be both feared and loved. Offering the best of both of these. To be only feared will cause you to be dethroned or voted out. To get to this point in reputaion you must justify why you do things. To raise taxs you do it to bring prosparity to your land. To donate to charity shows you have heart. Being loved will bring the mass’s to you but to have them respect your deeds when you set examples of criminals regardless of crime. This will keep the Leader in such a postion that they can rule with less conflict, and ethics will stay out of the way.