The Auron MacIntyre Show - Machiavelli： How to Master Fate ｜ 7⧸8⧸26

00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, how's it going? Thanks for joining me this afternoon. I am Oren McIntyre. We have

00:00:15.180 been working on our series reading Nicco Machiavelli's The Prince. It's been a long road,

00:00:22.600 but we are at the end here. This will be our final episode. If you haven't watched the previous

00:00:27.440 ones, that's okay. The great thing about The Prince is it's kind of broken down into these

00:00:31.280 pieces that are very easy to read and hopefully understand after we talk about them some. So I

00:00:36.740 think that this episode is relevant to you all by itself. But of course, if you want to read the

00:00:41.480 entirety of The Prince, maybe you've never read the book or you'd like to hear my thoughts about

00:00:45.220 the whole thing, you can go ahead and look to the playlist on YouTube, which will reveal all of the

00:00:52.140 different episodes that are part of this series. That said, we want to make sure that we finish

00:00:58.060 the book today, so we are just going to jump right in here. We are on chapter 23 about how

00:01:04.140 flatters should be avoided. Remember, Machiavelli is giving his guidance to would-be rulers of

00:01:11.740 principalities. Machiavelli himself was actually more of a fan of republicanism. Most people

00:01:17.040 remember Machiavelli from the prince and all of his advice to kings and so they think oh well he

00:01:23.360 was a monarchist that was his preferred form of government actually no he preferred republics

00:01:29.160 which you will find if you ever read his other great work discourses on Livy I encourage you

00:01:34.800 to read both of these the prince is the more approachable one it's actually only I think like

00:01:39.860 80 or 90 pages in most editions so this is one of those classics that you can get into there's a lot

00:01:45.520 to uncover as we read Machiavelli, so I wouldn't say it's simple to read, but it is very readable.

00:01:52.480 It is something that you might have to read multiple times and contemplate, but it's not a

00:01:57.340 slog to get through, so it's something that I like to reread at least once a year, and I think there's

00:02:02.260 always a new insight to uncover as you go through, even though it's a very brief book, and I encourage

00:02:07.260 you to do so. That said, let's jump into the book here. I do not wish to leave out an important

00:02:15.460 branch of this subject for it's a danger from which princes are with difficulty preserved

00:02:21.360 unless they are very careful and discriminating is that a flatters of whom courts are full because

00:02:27.680 men are so self-complacent in their own affairs that in a that in a way so to see and in a way

00:02:35.180 so deceived in them that they are preserved with difficulty from this past and if they wish to

00:02:41.360 defend themselves, they run the danger of falling into contempt because there is no other way of

00:02:46.820 guarding oneself from flatters except letting men understand that to tell you the truth does not

00:02:53.140 offend you. But when everyone can tell you the truth, respect for you abates. So he says there's

00:02:58.980 this difficult scenario if you want to have good, if you want to have good counsel, right? Because

00:03:05.380 at some level, you need people to feel like it's okay to tell you the truth. You don't just want

00:03:09.860 people to tell you everything that you want to hear if you're a wise ruler if you're a wise prince

00:03:14.620 you are going to take the counsel of other people you are not going to rest simply on your own

00:03:19.140 understanding however if everyone feels like they can just say whatever they want to you

00:03:24.660 if they don't treat you with any real respect any real deference then you have a serious problem on

00:03:30.680 your hands because people will stop thinking you of you as a king they will stop thinking of you

00:03:35.340 as someone who should be approached with awe and reverence so you have to strike some kind of

00:03:39.980 balance between the idea that people should always just flatter you and tell you everything

00:03:44.780 that you want to hear or that anyone can just say whatever they want as if you're a normal person

00:03:49.440 because you're not a normal person you're a prince and Machiavelli is very clear at all times that

00:03:53.960 you need to project this kind of awe this majesty if possible uh both love and fear right but most

00:04:01.220 importantly fear you want people to know that crossing you comes with a great cost but if

00:04:06.120 everyone is scared of you how do you get good counsel well Machiavelli goes on therefore a wise

00:04:11.860 prince ought to hold a third choice by choosing the wise man men in his state and giving to them

00:04:18.160 only the liberty of speaking the truth to him and then only of those things which he inquires and

00:04:24.220 none of the others but he ought to question them upon upon everything and listen to their opinions

00:04:29.720 and afterwards form his own conclusions so he says all right you need a first thing you need

00:04:33.660 to do is limit the number of guys who will speak to you like that there there are you should have

00:04:40.220 a core group of counselors of people who will give you good counsel who will feel free to tell you

00:04:45.560 the truth and not flatter you however it's really important that you limit that so first you need to

00:04:50.540 limit it only to like the most wise people don't just let everybody who walks in tell you exactly

00:04:55.840 what they think make it very clear that there is a subset of people who are allowed to tell you

00:05:00.620 what they think but they need to be a very controlled subset and even inside that subset

00:05:05.820 he says make sure that they only tell you they uh the truth on things that you specifically ask

00:05:11.900 about they're not allowed to just walk up you and say whatever they want hey uh you know prince i

00:05:16.400 think you're doing this wrong you're doing that wrong no they should know that they wait until

00:05:20.820 they get a question i am coming to you as a prince with a very specific inquiry this is not

00:05:26.120 your opportunity to tell me everything you don't like about what i do it's not your opportunity

00:05:30.320 to treat me as some commoner where you just berate me or criticize me this is a very specific request

00:05:36.420 for counsel so you need to limit it to the exact subject i have asked you about and only when i

00:05:41.600 ask you about it and then finally even at that time you still make the decision right at the end

00:05:48.180 as Machiavelli has made clear throughout the book

00:05:50.100 the prince needs to be the decider

00:05:52.000 you can never as a

00:05:53.940 sovereign hand off

00:05:56.140 responsibility. The buck always

00:05:58.160 has to stop with you. There is

00:06:00.300 no moment at which you can just shift

00:06:02.340 things or blame onto others unless as

00:06:04.240 Machiavelli's pointed out you have one of

00:06:06.240 these

00:06:06.560 ministers that you order to do something terrible

00:06:10.300 and then you blame them. But in general

00:06:12.100 when it comes to actually making the decision

00:06:14.420 not so much taking responsibility

00:06:16.220 I guess the buck stops there is not

00:06:18.180 the phrase. But the fact is, you need to always be making the final decision, never just hand it

00:06:23.740 off to a minister, never just hand it off to an underling at the end of the day. And so just

00:06:28.000 because you ask someone's opinion doesn't mean that you hold to it. It doesn't mean that just

00:06:33.520 because you ask for the counsel, they automatically get to inform the decision. At the end of the day,

00:06:37.760 it's still your responsibility to make the final decision. With these counselors separately and

00:06:43.980 collectively, he ought to carry himself in such a way that each of them should know that the more

00:06:48.720 freely he shall speak, the more he shall be preferred. Outside of these, he should listen

00:06:53.920 to no one. Pursuing the thing resolved on, I'd be steadfast in his resolution. He who does

00:07:03.200 otherwise is either overthrown by flatters or is so often changed by varying opinion that he falls

00:07:10.780 into contempt. So he says, all right, look, you have that subset of counselors. You've set the

00:07:16.040 clear boundaries. You only answer when I ask. You don't just come out and tell me I'm critical of

00:07:21.960 this. But when you have those, make sure that you reward speaking freely. Once you have that subset

00:07:28.660 of people that you're focusing on, make sure that you are rewarding the guys who are the most honest,

00:07:34.460 the ones that are most willing to come form and bring constructive criticism. But as we said,

00:07:40.000 make sure that they understand that you are still the one in charge and this will strike the balance

00:07:45.040 for you that way you're not being completely captive to flatters it's not that everyone is

00:07:49.480 so scared to tell you the truth that they only tell you nice things and what you want want to

00:07:53.580 hear so that limits you know your ability to be completely controlled by flatters but it also

00:08:00.200 means that you're not just listening to everybody and anybody who comes in and you're not just so

00:08:03.860 swayed by every opinion that you're paralyzed uh in your decision making so that's how he wants you

00:08:09.840 to strike that balance, right? Have a limited number of people who give good counsel. They

00:08:14.120 only give the counsel when they're asked about it. However, the ones who do give good counsel

00:08:18.900 are rewarded for their honesty. So they're not cowed by the fact that you are the prince and

00:08:23.800 you hold the power of life and death. They are willing to come forward and give you good advice

00:08:27.980 because they know at the end of the day, you will value that. That doesn't mean you give it to

00:08:32.400 everybody. You only give it to a select group of wise people who will know how to use it.

00:08:36.480 i wish on the subject to adduce a modern example for luca the man of affairs to maximilian the

00:08:44.140 present emperor speaking of his majesty said he consulted with no one yet never got his own way

00:08:50.220 in anything this arose because his following because his following a practice the opposite

00:08:55.140 to the above for the emperor is a secretive man he does not communicate his designs to anyone

00:09:01.100 nor does he receive opinions on them but as in carrying them in into effect they become revealed

00:09:07.600 and known they are once obstructed by those men whom he has around him and he being a client is

00:09:15.700 diverted from them hence it follows that the that those things he does one day he does he undoes the

00:09:22.440 next and no one ever understands what he wishes or intends to do and no one can rely on his

00:09:29.220 resolutions so you see how this inconsistency this back and forth he's trying to keep too much he's

00:09:34.880 not taking good counsel but then he's not actually getting things done when he tries to implement

00:09:39.560 them and again notice that you have Machiavelli always bringing a practical example in right

00:09:46.160 we always have a scenario with Machiavelli where he's not just giving his uh he's not just giving

00:09:52.720 his opinion out of nowhere. That opinion is always in some way rooted in history, in something he

00:09:59.660 can point to. He's not just theorizing, he's applying it practically in the very next paragraph.

00:10:06.760 A prince, therefore, ought to always to take counsel, but only when he wishes and not when

00:10:12.960 others wish. He ought to rather to discourage everyone from offering advice unless he asks it.

00:10:19.600 But, however, he ought to be a constant inquirer and thereafterwards a patient listener concerning the things of which he inquired.

00:10:27.940 Also, on learning that anyone of any consideration has not told him the truth, he should let his anger be felt.

00:10:35.740 So, be very careful, once again, reiterating, be very careful about who you allow to be an advisor.

00:10:41.140 Make it clear that that is a very solemn privilege.

00:10:44.100 And when you are asked about something, you tell me only what I ask you about.

00:10:47.980 however once again be a real listener once you ask for it actually listen don't you know so this

00:10:53.940 is Machiavelli again holding the prince in this position where he needs to always be esteemed he

00:10:59.320 always needs to have control he always needs to be the man in charge that people are looking to 0.94

00:11:04.220 however he's not so arrogant or so foolish or so cut off that once he has asked for advice he just 0.92

00:11:10.280 blows it off doesn't listen any of these things he focuses he makes it clear that he is listening 0.96

00:11:16.340 and taking that counsel into advisement even if ultimately he doesn't follow it you know that he

00:11:22.180 was someone who is wise and is listening to what you have to say and also if you lie at any point

00:11:27.600 you should feel his wrath and if there is someone who uh and if there are some who think that a

00:11:33.500 prince who conveys an impression of his wisdom is not so through his own ability but through the

00:11:39.820 good advisors that he has around him beyond doubt they are deceived because this is an axiom which

00:11:45.040 never fails that a prince who is not wise himself will never take good advice unless by chance he

00:11:50.820 has yielded his affairs entirely to one person who happens to be very prudent man in this case

00:11:56.180 indeed we may be well governed but it would not be for long because such a governor would in a

00:12:01.440 short time take away his state from him so again he says yes even if you have a very wise advisor

00:12:07.640 make it clear that you are the final decider and don't let anyone tell you that it's okay for a

00:12:13.400 king to just hand over all his decisions to his wisest advisor because if you're not the final

00:12:18.260 decision maker if this guy really is so wise that he could basically run the country he will right

00:12:24.960 like if people see that this guy is the real power or the real wisdom behind the throne then they'll

00:12:30.280 follow him instead so you need to make it clear that ultimately the wisdom is in your listening

00:12:35.580 to and implementing that advice not in simply the existence of the vice advice itself the prince

00:12:42.740 always needs to look like the final decision maker, always like the guy in charge, always like

00:12:47.340 the guy with authority, always sovereign. But if a prince who is not inexperienced should take

00:12:54.160 counsel from more than one, he will never get united counsels, nor will he know how to unite

00:13:00.400 them. Each of the counselors will think of his own interests, and the prince will not know how

00:13:05.160 to control them or to see through them. And there are not to be found otherwise, because men will

00:13:12.220 always prove untrue to you unless they are kept honest by constraint therefore it must be

00:13:17.680 inferred that good counsels wherever they come are born of the wisdom of the prince and not the

00:13:23.920 wisdom of the prince's good counselor so again reiterating this idea that if you have this

00:13:28.720 scenario where the counselors think that they are jockeying for position that they're gaining power

00:13:33.020 they're going to think about their own interest and not yours you don't have counselors to give

00:13:37.380 them power you have counselors to get good advice and so the way to put a cap on this is be careful

00:13:43.480 how many advisors you you kind of engage with at any given time but also make it clear once again

00:13:50.360 that your wisdom is paramount that yes you might get good advice from one guy or another but

00:13:56.020 ultimately it's not the advice that matters it's the man who is listening deciding which advice is

00:14:01.020 good and implementing it that's the guy that matters because if you don't people will look

00:14:06.100 to the guy who actually is running the country the guy who's really making decisions the power

00:14:10.360 behind the throne uh chapter uh let's see chapter 24 uh why the princes of italy have lost their

00:14:19.800 states the previous suggestions carefully observed will enable a new prince to appear

00:14:24.720 well established and render him at once more secure and fixed in the state than if he had

00:14:30.240 long settled there for the actions of new princes are more narrowly observed than those of hereditary

00:14:35.540 ones and when they are seen to be able uh when they're seen to be able uh they gain more men

00:14:41.760 and bind far tighter than ancient blood because men are attracted more by the present than by the

00:14:47.980 past and when they find the present good they enjoy it and and seek no further they will also

00:14:53.160 make the utmost defense of a prince if he fails uh them not in other in other things thus it will

00:14:59.400 be a double glory for him to have established a new principality and adorned and strengthened it

00:15:04.080 with good laws, good arms, and good allies, and with a good example. So it will be double

00:15:09.040 disgrace to him who, born a prince, shall lose his state and want of wisdom. So Machiavelli has

00:15:15.140 regularly broken his advice across this book, across kind of a couple different levels, and

00:15:21.700 one of them is whether you are a prince who won his rule directly under your own power, your own

00:15:28.480 arms your own good actions or whether you're someone who uh is hereditary if you just inherited

00:15:34.560 it because of blood and he says you know there's there's a lot of advantages to both you know he

00:15:39.780 doesn't favor one of the other but he's just very clear that you have to be aware of these dynamic

00:15:44.820 differences the things that the the conquering prince does are not the same as the thing that

00:15:49.960 the hereditary prince does and there are things that hereditary princes get away with the conquering

00:15:54.140 princes don't but he says if you are a conquering prince then remember that because you are the one

00:16:00.940 who's winning you're the one who actually is doing the action you built the kingdom you won the

00:16:05.200 battles you won control because you are the strong horse people will be attracted to you they will

00:16:12.180 want to do things for you and if you have better better their lives directly in recent memory they

00:16:17.820 will be more loyal to you than some guy who just inherited the throne because he happened to be in

00:16:22.840 the bloodline and they'll even forgive you some of the things that you do wrong as long as you are

00:16:28.040 overall a good prince to them however it's going to be a big disgrace if you are a hereditary prince

00:16:35.220 who because you got all this stuff for free and you didn't do anything impressive with it

00:16:39.080 you eventually ruin the kingdom so he warns that ultimately the guy who is you know kind of the

00:16:45.140 first mover taking action he's going to have more leeway both in just glory but also the loyalty

00:16:51.600 of his people as where the hereditary king he yes he gets to be a king right away but if he doesn't

00:16:57.280 prove himself he's in a dangerous place and if he continues to disgrace himself not only did he

00:17:02.720 disgrace you know the the actions in the present but he's also disgracing his ancestors and the

00:17:09.340 fact that he received that command and did nothing with it that is ultimately the worst possible

00:17:15.520 outcome. And if those seigniors are considered who have lost their states in Italy in our time,

00:17:23.600 such as the King of Naples, the Duke of Milan, and others, there will be found in them, firstly,

00:17:29.260 one common defect in regard to arms from the causes which have been discarded at length.

00:17:34.220 In the next place, some of them will be seen either to have had the people hostile, or if he

00:17:40.740 had people friendly he had not known how to secure the nobles in the absence of these defects of

00:17:46.220 state they have power enough to keep an army in the field it cannot be lost so he says look if

00:17:51.400 you are one of these people who lost a kingdom if you're one of these people who inherited the

00:17:55.020 kingdom and then lost it it's going to be because of one of three things either first you were not

00:18:00.940 a good warrior again Machiavelli thinks the first duty of the prince is war the first duty of the

00:18:06.280 prince is to be a warrior not some dilettante not some guy sitting on the throne making wise

00:18:12.120 decisions those are all you know fine and dandy but ultimately the first job is to be a warrior

00:18:17.320 so you either lost it because you were insufficient at arms or uh the people became hostile right

00:18:26.420 like you we machiavelli reminds us over and over again as cruel as he sometimes is as as much as

00:18:32.440 he will advise princes to be evil even in certain situations he knows that the love of the people

00:18:38.300 is the most important thing right even if you can't be loved you need at least need to be

00:18:41.960 respected or at least not be hated and if so if you ever become hated by the people that is very

00:18:47.720 dangerous and then he said or he says the third one is you didn't secure the nobles because remember

00:18:52.780 the people in the nobles are two different forces in every principality and the nobles are always a

00:18:58.960 threat because they always have certain expectations above what the people believe they're always

00:19:03.300 jockeying for their own position so these are the three key things that could lose you uh you know

00:19:08.460 your kingdom and if none of these are bad if you have arms you have the the love or at least the

00:19:13.360 respect of the people and you have the nobles under control it's going to be really hard for

00:19:18.420 people to defeat you you're going to be able to keep an army in field it's going to be very hard

00:19:22.120 for you to lose

00:19:28.960 Philip of Macedon, and not the father of Alexander the Great, but he who was conquered by Titus

00:19:34.000 Quintus, had not much territory compared to the greatness of the Romans and of the Greeks who

00:19:39.740 attacked him. Yet being a warlike man who knew how to attract the people and secure the nobles,

00:19:45.420 he sustained the war against his enemies for many years. And if in the end he lost the domain of the

00:19:52.260 cities, nevertheless, he retained the kingdom. Therefore, do not let our princes accuse fortune

00:19:57.640 for the loss of their principalities after so many years possession but rather their own sloth

00:20:03.160 because in quiet times they never thought that they that it could be changed is a common defect

00:20:08.200 of man not to make any provision in the calm against the tempest and when afterward the bad

00:20:13.200 times came they thought of flight and not defending themselves and they hoped that the people

00:20:17.900 disgusted with the insolence of the conquerors would recall them this course when others fail

00:20:24.920 may be good but it is very bad to have neglected all the other expedients for that since you would

00:20:31.840 never wish to fall because you trusted to be because you trusted to be able to find someone

00:20:37.520 later on to restore you this again either does not happen or if it does it will not be for your

00:20:43.960 security because the deliverance is not as of no avail which is not depend upon yourself

00:20:50.500 Those only are reliable, certain and durable that depend on yourself and your valor.

00:20:56.640 So once again, he says, if you are one of these people who inherited your, you know, inherited your kingdom and you end up losing it, right, because then you can't blame it on fortune because you were fortunate enough to get the kingdom in the first place.

00:21:13.080 If you inherited the kingdom, then you are already somebody who is in a position of privilege.

00:21:19.940 You're doing much better than the guy who had to win it outright.

00:21:22.860 So if you just go out there, get a kingdom because it was inherited to you, and then you do nothing with it or you lose it, that is your fault.

00:21:31.320 That is not fortune.

00:21:32.240 Don't try to blame that.

00:21:33.860 And he says one of the reasons is that you're going to lose it is because you were too slothful.

00:21:38.880 You didn't take the times when you could have taken advantage, when you could have built up your military, you could have trained people, you could have made money, you could have expanded your power, you could have shored up alliances.

00:21:49.280 You didn't do that.

00:21:50.740 You didn't have the foresight because you thought things would all be fine.

00:21:53.720 You were born the king.

00:21:54.840 You were born the prince.

00:21:55.880 You'll always be the prince.

00:21:57.300 You don't need to worry about it. 0.99

00:21:58.640 Loser mentality, right?

00:21:59.940 He says, do not let these people blame fortune when they could have been planning, when they could have been shoring things up.

00:22:06.620 And there's obvious parallels here to kind of the boomer conservative mindset, right?

00:22:14.920 Well, America, I inherited as a boomer World War II America, post-World War II America,

00:22:20.740 which was an empire that was making everybody instantly rich and powerful and comfortable.

00:22:26.280 And that's just how the world's always going to be.

00:22:29.060 America is a place that's conservative. 0.72

00:22:31.280 It's Christian.

00:22:32.260 It's relatively ethnically homogenous, relatively peaceful.

00:22:35.540 uh it's gonna it's this global hegemon it's gonna be wealthy forever and we don't need to worry

00:22:40.860 about any of that because we inherited that and we were born that way and we will always be that

00:22:46.080 way things will always be like this and there's no reason to make that investment wrong bad and

00:22:52.620 when you lose when you lose like this you deserve it you can't blame fortune because you didn't put

00:22:58.800 the effort in you just coasted on your own laurels you are really the laurels of your ancestors and

00:23:04.620 so you just assume that things would always be this way you couldn't put the effort in and you're

00:23:09.040 going to lose and he says look ultimately if you're hoping to flee your uh your your principality

00:23:16.040 and hoping that like because the people who invaded are bad eventually you'll be uh begged

00:23:21.180 back you know to return and be in charge i guess if you're stuck with that then you have to do that

00:23:25.960 but don't ever let it get to that place and don't ever think that's a good position because even if

00:23:30.840 you return even if they call you back in the power they're only doing it for their deliverance and

00:23:36.720 not because of your ability right if you had the ability you would have stopped them anyway you

00:23:41.620 would have stopped the overthrow or the invasion or whatever it is in the first place and so if

00:23:47.160 you're brought back in the power it won't be because of your strength it won't because of your

00:23:51.500 valor won't be because of your ability it will be because other people got desperate and they

00:23:56.920 want to use you and again Machiavelli always so clear and consistent on this issue we always need

00:24:03.620 to be doing this on our own it always needs to be the ruler's power the ruler's authority the

00:24:09.100 ruler's capability it's your arms it's your valor it's your wisdom it's your wit these are the

00:24:17.160 things that ultimately should win you the kingdom anytime you rely on anyone else to be the final

00:24:22.800 word on military matters or economic matters or, you know, judgment, you have failed. You've

00:24:30.420 failed as a ruler. All right, chapter 25, what fortune can affect in human affairs and how to

00:24:39.760 withstand her. It is not unknown to me how many men have had and still have the opinion of the

00:24:49.360 affairs of the world are in such wise governed by fortune and by God that men with their wisdom

00:24:55.560 cannot direct them and that no one can even help them. And because of this, they would have us

00:25:01.040 believe that it is not necessary to labor much in affairs, but to let chance govern them. So

00:25:08.160 for Machiavelli here, he really takes providence and fortune as the same thing, right? Whether

00:25:16.180 whether it's what you want to call fortune or fortuna, as he says it in the translations for

00:25:23.060 the Roman goddess, or whether you think it's the Christian God, he does not like this idea

00:25:29.100 that anything is out of your hands, right? Which is very Machiavelli. Everything needs to be in

00:25:33.920 your control. You should always be demanding agency and power. You should never, ever put

00:25:39.220 anything up to chance if you can allow it. So, and he puts, whether it be, you know, the idea

00:25:44.480 that god is guiding events or whether it's the idea that fate has it beyond us he is not a huge

00:25:50.060 fan of relying on this now to be clear as we'll see he doesn't discount that there are things out

00:25:54.460 of your control he believes fortune is a real force in in uh in uh in the world however he

00:26:01.200 thinks that you should act as if your your actions always matter yes fortune can defeat you but you

00:26:09.300 should never allow that to be a scapegoat for your inaction. You should always be taking control.

00:26:14.600 You should always be acting vigorously. This opinion has been more credited in our times

00:26:20.200 because of the great changes in affairs which have been seen and may still be seen every day

00:26:24.980 beyond all human conjecture. Sometimes pondering over this, I am in some degree inclined to their

00:26:30.480 opinion. Nevertheless, do not extinguish our free will. I hold it to be true that fortune is the

00:26:37.640 arbiter of one half of our actions but that she still leaves us to direct the other half or perhaps

00:26:43.440 a little less so again he is not discounting fortune he is not discounting that there are

00:26:48.500 things outside of your control he is not discounting the idea that ultimately there are

00:26:53.360 things that you cannot impact and that you simply have to roll with those things occurring but he

00:26:58.400 says never give up that free will never give up that agency even if you can only control half

00:27:02.780 if you're controlling half while everyone else is controlling a quarter or nothing because they

00:27:07.360 just leave everything up to fate then you are the one making more of an impact every man will have

00:27:11.840 to deal with fortune and some will have good fortune some will have bad fortune the question

00:27:15.460 is what you do with it it's what you do with that other half that matters so he says even if fortune

00:27:20.800 only leaves us half or even a little less than half still we must maximize our control of the

00:27:26.080 half that we have control of that's what makes the difference that's what makes great men great

00:27:31.200 is their willingness to engage even when they could blame others even when they could blame

00:27:36.400 circumstance the fact that they are willing to act in that moment and control as much as possible

00:27:42.280 that's what sets them apart i compare her to one of those raging rivers which when in flood

00:27:48.700 overflows the plains sweeping away trees and buildings bearing away the soil from the place

00:27:53.620 to place everything flies before it all yield to its violence without being able in a way to

00:27:59.720 withstand it and yet there is a nature be but and yet though it is nature be such it does not follow

00:28:06.580 therefore that men when the weather comes fair shall not make provisions both with uh defenses

00:28:13.080 and barriers in such a manner that rising again the waters pass away uh by canal and their forces

00:28:19.180 being either so unrestrained uh or so dangerous so it happens with fortune who shows her power

00:28:25.880 with valor has not prepared to uh to resist her and tither she turns her forces where she knows

00:28:32.100 that barriers and defenses have not been raised to constrain her so he says look we understand that

00:28:37.940 that fortune is a real force and and this is a perfect metaphor right if it rains so uh heavily

00:28:43.340 that the river overflows there's nothing you can do about that you can't control the rain

00:28:47.540 that there there's nothing as a prince that you could have done to stop the river from flooding

00:28:53.000 i mean later on you can build dams and things but we get the idea here right like at there is nothing

00:28:57.800 you can do to control the weather and the effects of the weather right and this is of course true

00:29:01.800 every battlefield commander knows this like you can do your best to try to understand you know what

00:29:06.520 the weather is going to be and how it's going to impact you but ultimately if you're you know

00:29:09.620 gearing up for this huge battle and then it rains all day and you're in a muddy field that's going

00:29:13.440 to have a certain impact if you're in a field and it's 110 degrees that's going to have a certain

00:29:18.300 impact and a lot of times there's just not much you can do about that however that doesn't mean

00:29:22.800 you don't have agency. If the river is overflowing all the time, then it's your job to build up

00:29:27.980 barriers, to build up the seawalls or whatever else you need to restrain it. And if you spend

00:29:33.680 all your time blaming the weather rather than building the fortifications in the walls, well,

00:29:39.380 then you can't complain when it floods again. Yes, it wasn't your fault. Yes, fortune did it,

00:29:44.720 right? But if you had been prepared, then you wouldn't, the next time you wouldn't have been

00:29:49.640 as subject and that's why it says you know that she's looking for people who have not been barriers

00:29:53.480 the people who are most likely to be wrecked by fortune are the people who don't prepare and of

00:29:57.460 course we see this in high time preference versus low time preference behavior a lot of people will

00:30:02.640 bring up the example that in many third world cultures and places like africa or uh you know

00:30:08.520 certain parts of india these kind of things they would just not build critical infrastructure like

00:30:13.420 bridges or they would not you know what's the old cartoon of the horse the dog that doesn't patch

00:30:19.860 the roof because when it's raining he doesn't want to get up there and patch it because it's too wet

00:30:23.840 and when it's sunny he doesn't need a patch because it's not raining right so what never

00:30:28.900 fix the problem it's that that low time preference that ability to say i need to think about what

00:30:34.420 comes next i need to prepare for the future that's what sets civilizations and princes apart

00:30:40.120 Everyone has bad fortune, right?

00:30:42.180 Some people will have more, some people will have less.

00:30:44.300 But it's the people who take action and prepare for those possibilities, even if they fail.

00:30:49.640 They are far more likely to succeed than the person who just throws up their hands and says,

00:30:53.120 it's all fate, it's all whim, there's nothing I can do about it.

00:30:57.700 And if you will consider Italy, which is the seat of these changes,

00:31:01.520 and which has given to them their impulse,

00:31:04.060 you'll see it to be open country without barriers and without any defense.

00:31:08.920 and it has been defended by proper valor as Germany, Spain, and France, either this invasion

00:31:14.760 would not have been, would not have made the great changes it has made, or it would have come,

00:31:21.260 would not have come at all. And this I consider enough to say concerning the resistance to

00:31:26.600 fortune in general. But confining myself more to the particular, I'd say that a prince may be happy

00:31:32.360 today may be seen happy today and ruined tomorrow without having shown any chance or disposition

00:31:40.100 or character this i believe arises firstly from causes that have already been discussed at length

00:31:45.640 namely that the prince who relies entirely on fortune is lost when it changes i believe also

00:31:51.740 that he will be successful who directs his actions according to the spirit of the times

00:31:56.780 and that he does and that he who and he whose actions do not accord with the times will be

00:32:03.940 will not be successful because men are seen in affairs that lead to the end which every man has

00:32:09.980 has before him namely glory and riches to get there by various methods one with one with caution

00:32:17.940 another with haste one with force another with skill one by patience another by its opposite

00:32:23.780 and each one succeeds in reaching the goals by a different method one can also see of two cautions

00:32:29.900 men who uh uh men the one attain uh his in the other fail and similarly two men by different

00:32:37.740 observances are equally successful the one being cautious the other being impetuous all this arises

00:32:44.080 from nothing else than whether or not they confirm in their methods to conform in their methods to

00:32:50.300 the spirit of the times this allows from what i said this follows from what i said the two men

00:32:55.520 working differently uh bring about the same effect and of two working similarly that uh one attains

00:33:01.680 his object and the other does not so this might be a little of a confusing passage but really what

00:33:07.860 he's just saying here is don't stick with ideology right like don't sit don't think that there is one

00:33:14.180 particular way to do anything that that because it's been done one day way before or this is how

00:33:19.660 you've always succeeded or this is the tradition that that is the only way for things to get done

00:33:24.760 in fact sticking to that can be very harmful to you he says you need to pay attention to the actual

00:33:30.300 age you're in what's going on what are the circumstances what are the conditions around

00:33:35.220 you how have they shifted from your ancestors or other things because he says look two guys could

00:33:40.380 be cautious and one could fail and one could succeed and the other two could be impetuous

00:33:46.460 They could go out and make grand actions and one might fail and one might succeed.

00:33:51.120 It's not being impetuous or cautious.

00:33:53.580 It's not being wise or a man of action that wins you the day.

00:33:58.600 It's about knowing how to apply that.

00:34:00.860 It's prudence.

00:34:02.080 It's knowing whether the times call for action or being cautious.

00:34:07.020 It's whether the times call for being bold or reserving yourself, right?

00:34:12.980 So there are general principles, right?

00:34:15.220 Machiavelli is writing us a book of things that we should think about

00:34:18.580 and we should follow.

00:34:19.840 But ultimately, we shouldn't hold to one and only one understanding

00:34:24.480 no matter how circumstances change.

00:34:26.560 You need to be in the moment.

00:34:28.020 You need to be aware of the world around you.

00:34:29.600 You need to be aware of what's happening.

00:34:31.060 If you hold to exactly one tactic all the time

00:34:33.660 and you think that is universally applicable in every situation,

00:34:37.040 you will lose.

00:34:38.940 And it doesn't matter what that tactic is.

00:34:40.660 It could be the best tactic in the world.

00:34:42.100 But it's going to have weaknesses.

00:34:43.200 It's going to have times when it doesn't apply.

00:34:44.700 Again, something conservatives could really take to heart.

00:35:14.700 You may no longer be in a moment where, you know, being super persuasive about your principles

00:35:23.500 is the thing that's going to win you the day. It might be a very different time, right?

00:35:28.780 The Sons of Liberty probably weren't the most persuasive and eloquent guys all the time. They

00:35:33.400 were sometimes. Sometimes they made impressive speeches, but they didn't only make speeches.

00:35:38.020 They knew that sometimes things required action, not just words, but they didn't just only require

00:35:43.620 action sometimes you did need eloquent speeches sometimes you did need to make a case it's having

00:35:49.180 that prudence that matters it's not one or the other changes in a state also issue from this

00:35:55.860 for if to one who governs himself with caution and patience time and affairs converge in such a way

00:36:02.100 that his administration is successful his fortune is made but if times and affairs change he is

00:36:07.320 ruined if he does not change his course of action so again you're gonna you can gain or lose things

00:36:12.420 entirely if you are not willing to change with times if you're just holding to one idea but it

00:36:17.620 but a man is not often found sufficiently circumspect to know how to accommodate himself

00:36:22.320 to the change both because he cannot uh deviate from the nature he is that inclines him to do

00:36:28.340 and also because having always prospered by acting in one way he cannot be persuaded that

00:36:34.020 is well to leave and therefore the cautious man when it is time to turn adventurous does not know

00:36:40.000 how how to do it therefore he is ruined but had his uh he changed his conduct uh with the times

00:36:45.980 uh fortune uh fortune would not have changed so again he's saying look there's this bias of

00:36:52.700 success and this bias of recency look we keep doing things this way we keep getting this result

00:36:57.620 right this has been a winning strategy for us for a long time that's true right and that's generally

00:37:02.940 good advice like there is a real truth to tradition to learning from your ancestors

00:37:09.540 like most of the time you should just do what has worked previously however you should never be so

00:37:15.600 married to that that the minute something changes you cannot adapt and you lose because you would

00:37:21.460 not adapt so there is something to be said about following what has worked but do not be locked

00:37:27.880 into this idea that just because this thing has worked uh previously it will always work do not

00:37:34.180 be fooled by this idea that because this has been the strategy that has worked for you most of your

00:37:38.240 life, then all of a sudden you'll be fine here, right? There are many times, think about financial

00:37:42.980 crisis, think about all these things where people have been following a particular investment plan

00:37:50.180 or a particular action, and that's been so successful their entire lives, or at least,

00:37:54.860 you know, when they've been doing it for the last five years, 10 years, maybe. And then all of a

00:37:58.200 sudden the circumstances around them change and they keep following the same advice they had before

00:38:03.160 because nothing has changed right nothing there has been no real alteration except there has

00:38:09.480 everything has shifted on their feet and all of a sudden they are completely destroyed because

00:38:13.500 they kept following the same strategy that worked that was legitimate up until now but

00:38:19.080 things shifted and you didn't pay attention because you were comfortable you were in your

00:38:23.380 habit and so you didn't shift along with the times pope julius ii went to work impetuously

00:38:31.080 in all of his affairs and found the times and circumstances conformed so well to the line of

00:38:36.980 action that he always met with success consider his first enterprise against bologna messer

00:38:42.660 giovanni bentovelgi being still alive the venetians were not agreeable to the to it nor was the king

00:38:50.160 of spain and he had the enterprise still under discussion with the king of france nevertheless

00:38:55.620 he personally entered upon the expedition with his accustomed boldness and energy a move which

00:39:01.340 made spain and the venetians stand is irresolute and passive the latter from fear the former from

00:39:08.200 the desire to recover the kingdom of naples on the other hand he drew after him the king of france

00:39:13.120 because the king having observed the movement and desiring to make the pope his friend so as to

00:39:17.980 humble the venetians found it impossible to refuse him therefore julius with his impetuous action

00:39:24.620 accomplish what no other pontiff with simple human wisdom could have done for it had been

00:39:29.580 for it had for if he had waited in rome until he could get away with his plans arranged and

00:39:37.100 everything fixed as any other pontiff would have done he would have never succeeded because the

00:39:42.040 king of france would have made a thousand excuses and others would have raised a thousand fears so

00:39:47.220 he says look you have this pope and this pope is doing an amazing job but he's doing it because

00:39:53.140 basically he is being imprudent or rather he is being uh impetuous he is taking direct action uh

00:40:00.240 he and because the kind of the the circumstances the around him lined up where fast action was

00:40:06.880 the advisable choice he just kept winning he kept using the same strategy of decisive action

00:40:12.180 and because the kind of all these things aligned it kept creating a great opportunity for him

00:40:18.160 had circumstances been different the constant use of the same action wouldn't have worked

00:40:22.620 But the fact that this pope was impetuous and that met up with these moments where his strong action were benefiting all of those decisions, ultimately, he had these great successes.

00:40:34.700 I will leave his other actions alone as they were all alike and they all succeeded for the shortness of his life to not let him experience the contrary.

00:40:41.960 And Machiavelli notes this multiple times where you have this situation of, you know, someone has won, but they died before we could find out more.

00:40:51.960 and so maybe it looks like they did the right thing the whole time but maybe they only died

00:40:57.480 before the consequences of their actions caught up with them and that seems to be what is implying

00:41:01.000 here yes the cardinal or the the pope did the same thing over and over again he made the same

00:41:06.000 decision over and over again and they all worked but maybe they only worked because they were the

00:41:10.600 right actions for that moment but if he had lived longer and continued along that road it would have

00:41:15.480 ultimately yielded something worse but unsuccessful when they fall out for my part i consider that

00:41:21.880 is better to be adventurous than cautious because fortune and this is a Machiavelli writing uh

00:41:27.800 very much in his time because fortune is a woman and if you wish to keep her under it is necessary

00:41:33.640 to beat and ill use her and it is uh and it is seen that she allows herself to be mastered by

00:41:40.300 the adventurous rather than by those who go to work coldly she is therefore always a woman like

00:41:46.880 a lover of young men because they are less conscious more violent and with more audacity

00:41:51.780 command her so uh in his own very spicy way Machiavelli lays out that basically if you want

00:41:58.080 to command fortune you need to really be aggressive you need to be in total control you need to make

00:42:05.380 it clear that you are the boss that you are the one who is pushing things to the edge that you

00:42:09.040 should be bold so he says yes there are times where you should be bold and times where you

00:42:12.520 should hold back there are times where you should be you know uh wise and and reserved and there are

00:42:17.500 times where you should be impetuous but in general if you're favoring one or the other always favor

00:42:23.540 boldness always fear boldness because fortune has always uh you know benefited the leader who is

00:42:31.020 basically young violent uh less cautious and more audacious more audacious right that you might lose

00:42:38.780 right there's a real chance of losing when you make those bold actions but ultimately they are

00:42:44.560 the ones that are going to succeed repeatedly over time and our final chapter an exhortation

00:42:53.120 to liberate italy from barbarians having carefully considered the subject of the above discourse and

00:42:59.280 wondering within myself whether the present time with uh propitious uh uh to a new prince and

00:43:06.540 whether there were elements that would give an opportunity to a wise and virtuous one

00:43:12.000 to introduce a new order of things which would do honor to him and good to the people of

00:43:18.640 his country.

00:43:19.320 It appears to me that so many things concur to favor a new prince that I never knew a

00:43:26.040 time more fit than the present. 0.99

00:43:28.560 And if I said it was necessary that the people of Israel should be captive so as to make 0.97

00:43:34.340 manifests the ability of moses that the persians should be oppressed by the medes as to discover 0.89

00:43:40.120 the greatness of the soul of cyrus and that the athenians should be dispersed to illustrate the

00:43:46.560 capabilities of theseus then at present time in order to discover the virtue of italian spirit 0.99

00:43:51.780 is necessary that ali should be more reduced to an extreme extremity than she is now and she should 0.98

00:43:57.720 be more enslaved than the hebrews more oppressed than the persians more scar scattered than the 1.00

00:44:03.180 Athenians without head, without order, beaten, despoiled, torn, overrun, and have to endure

00:44:08.940 every kind of desolation. All right. So he's saying, look, there are all these people who

00:44:15.220 are pushing in on Italy, right? Remember that in Machiavelli's time, Italy is not unified.

00:44:20.340 It is a series of city states and kingdoms. And so they're very isolated. They're not working

00:44:26.460 together. They're not coordinated. And Machiavelli is dealing with a lot of consolidating kingdoms,

00:44:31.960 right? He's dealing with a lot of kingdoms that are increasing in power. You have more unified

00:44:36.980 kingdoms like France who are imposing their will. Again, remember the idea that the king just ruled

00:44:44.600 everything, that kings just had this total power over entire vast swaths of empires and this kind

00:44:51.620 of thing. This was not the norm. Princes did not usually control that much, right? They did not

00:44:59.080 have that kind of unity they had to push really hard to try to consolidate their nobles and

00:45:04.080 everybody together and field an army and really do anything so this idea we have of kings of just

00:45:10.140 being like these totally uh powerful monarchs who completely uh control massive armies at the snap

00:45:15.840 of a finger that is not the case that is starting to form in Machiavelli's time he's starting to see

00:45:22.020 these uh these kingdoms start to consolidate and he is jealous that's kind of what we're going to

00:45:28.420 see here in this book is we're going to get a retro chronic understanding at the end we're

00:45:34.360 going to read this last chapter of the book and it's going to put the rest of the book in context

00:45:38.880 because what we're going to slowly understand is everything that Machiavelli advising is pushing

00:45:44.260 us towards this unified Italian kingdom one that can stand up against all these other more powerful

00:45:52.140 kingdoms that are now imposing their will on Italy Machiavelli really doesn't like the fact

00:45:57.820 that he has all these factions he has the church he has all the city states he has the the petty

00:46:02.240 kingdoms and then you have some unified power like France that just comes in and they can weigh in

00:46:06.740 and create huge changes in Italy he wants a unified Italian state right and that's very

00:46:14.560 interesting because we think now of the entire world as carved up into like these nation states

00:46:19.880 these like these really consolidated bodies but that is very ahistorical that is very new

00:46:26.460 development but Machiavelli is seeing that on the horizon and so when we talk about Machiavelli as

00:46:31.520 the modern or the beginning of modern political science the beginning of modern political theory

00:46:37.140 there's a lot of things that he brings in but one of them we have to remember is Machiavelli is

00:46:41.900 writing and yep it's my hobby horse we found it again he's writing about scale he's saying scale

00:46:47.460 matters and the fact that we are not consolidated that we have not in create created these economies

00:46:53.080 of scale for our military and our economy and everything else well that's going to be a huge

00:46:57.660 problem and he says if you needed these moments these great historical moments where the israelites

00:47:04.200 were scattered but that brought about moses or the persians were oppressed but that brought about

00:47:10.020 cyrus well then maybe that's what's necessary this is kind of machiavelli's accelerationism

00:47:14.460 right maybe we had to suffer these injustices to motivate us to take make these changes maybe

00:47:21.740 things have to get worse before they get better and of course you know there is some truth to that

00:47:27.680 so Machiavelli is kind of laying that out for us here that perhaps there will be this moment that 0.99

00:47:32.700 all of these barbarians coming in all of these other kingdoms coming in and imposing their will

00:47:37.620 on Italy maybe that will be the thing that finally forces us to raise up a true leader a true champion 0.90

00:47:43.360 that will unify Italy and fight back rather than putting it off and trying to maintain these

00:47:48.360 individual city-states and individual squabbles and so we kind of see this is the beginning

00:47:53.760 of massification in politics this is the start we're at the end we're at the point where now

00:47:59.400 we're asking maybe it would be better if things devolved back down into a city-state maybe it

00:48:03.620 would be better if we had smaller units of political capital we've turned everything

00:48:07.820 into an empire and it has its own deleterious effects but at this time Machiavelli is at the

00:48:12.140 beginning of this process although lately some uh spark may have been shown by one which made

00:48:18.600 us think that he was ordained by god for our redemption nevertheless it was afterwards seen

00:48:24.800 in the height of his career that fortune rejected him so that idly left uh as without life uh waits

00:48:31.620 for him who shall heal her wounds and put an end to the ravaging and plundering of lombardy so that

00:48:36.900 the swindling and taxing of the kingdom of tuscany the cleansing of the sores for the long

00:48:42.040 have for that have for long that for long have festered sorry i kept inserting a new half

00:48:49.080 it is uh seen uh how she entreats god to send someone who shall deliver her from these wrongs

00:48:56.360 and barbarous barbarous insolences it is seen also that she is ready and willing to follow

00:49:01.480 a banner if only someone will raise it he's literally doing his the crown is in the gutter

00:49:05.420 moment right like we've seen other people fail at this task but the people of italy long to be

00:49:11.140 united they long to throw off this foreign yoke they long to push out these interlopers and if 0.99

00:49:15.820 only someone would come and pull this crowd of the gutter and unify us and fight back and dismiss 0.99

00:49:21.520 these people and avenge our insults well then that person would be great

00:49:26.360 nor is there to be seen at present one whom she can place more hope than uh in your illusion uh

00:49:36.380 ah geez uh nor is there to be seen at present one in whom she can place more hope than in your

00:49:42.840 illustrious house with its valor and fortune favored by god and by the church of which it

00:49:48.520 is now chief and which uh and which could be made the head of this redemption this shall not be

00:49:56.420 difficult if you will recall to yourself the actions uh and lives of men i have named and

00:50:01.660 although they have great and wonderful men, yet they were men, and each one of them had no more

00:50:06.500 opportunity than the present offers, for their enterprises were neither more just nor easier

00:50:12.320 than this, nor was God more their friend than he is yours. With us there is great justice, but

00:50:19.360 because the war is just, there is necessity, and arms are hallowed when there is no other hope

00:50:27.360 but in them. Here there is the greatest willingness, and where the willingness is great,

00:50:33.840 the difficulties cannot be great if you will only follow those men to whom I have directed your

00:50:39.440 attention. Further than this, how extraordinarily the ways of God have been manifested beyond

00:50:45.500 example. The sea is divided. A cloud has led the way. The rock has poured forth the water.

00:50:52.500 It is rained manna. Everything is contributed to your greatness, and you ought to do the rest.

00:50:56.820 God is not willing to do everything and thus take your will and share the glory which belongs to us.

00:51:04.600 So remember, he is writing this to encourage members of this family who are in line, in league at some level with the church.

00:51:14.840 You look at all this.

00:51:16.020 He's really laying it on thick.

00:51:17.460 Okay, everything is favoring you.

00:51:19.260 You have God is on your side.

00:51:21.160 Everything has been laid forth.

00:51:22.920 It's manna from heaven.

00:51:24.420 There's water pouring from the rock.

00:51:26.180 basically all these biblical signs, and there is simply no way that you can fail if you just have

00:51:31.720 the courage to make this happen. And look, you can't just sit there and wait for God to do

00:51:35.980 everything. You have to act, right? Which is, of course, something he has been saying very recently

00:51:40.420 in these passages. You have to take responsibility. You have the perfect scenario, but it's your

00:51:46.140 choice as Prince as to whether you engage it. And if you just listen to me, remember, this is a job

00:51:50.940 interview too. This book is a job interview. If you just listen to me, then we can conquer this

00:51:55.700 together. We can do it. You just follow these great men, the advice that I have given, and we

00:52:02.080 will ultimately see success. And it is not to be wondered at if none of the above-named Italians 1.00

00:52:11.500 have been able to accomplish all that is expected from your illustrious house. And if so many

00:52:18.440 revolutions in Italy and so many campaigns, it has always appeared as if military virtue were

00:52:25.200 exhausted uh this has happened because the old order of things was not good none of us have known

00:52:31.540 how to find a new one and nothing honors a man more than establishing new laws and new ordinances

00:52:37.100 when he himself uh has wisely risen such things when they are well founded and dignified will make

00:52:43.260 him revered and admired and in italy they are not wanting opportunity to bring such uh such into

00:52:49.520 use in every form so remember Machiavelli in previous episodes previous uh chapters has said

00:52:55.960 repeatedly that he who establishes new modes and orders the he who wins the day for himself

00:53:00.480 and establishes these things and changes things he is the most praiseworthy throughout and now

00:53:05.500 that we read this last chapter we can see why he kept saying that maybe it's true of course I think

00:53:09.580 it is true in many ways uh but he's also saying it because he wants it to happen right he's saying

00:53:13.900 and he's saying you you can be the one to implement those new modes and orders you can be glorious and

00:53:19.020 look at how everything has been laid out for you right like ultimately these things are going to be

00:53:23.960 very advantageous for you here there is a great valor in the limbs whilst it fails in the head

00:53:30.360 look attentively at the duels in the hand-to-hand combat now superior uh and how superior the

00:53:36.360 italians are in strength dexterity and subtlety but when it comes to armies they do not bear 0.97

00:53:40.840 comparison and this springs entirely from their insufficiency of leaders since those who are 0.93

00:53:46.920 capable are not obedient and each one seems to himself to know there are uh there there having

00:53:54.400 never been any one so distinguished yet above the rest either by their valor or fortune that others

00:54:00.100 should yield to him hence it is uh for so long a time and during so much fighting in the past

00:54:06.040 20 years whether there have been uh wherever whenever there has been an army wholly italian

00:54:14.260 it is always given a poor account of itself the first witness to this was taro after alexandria

00:54:20.660 capua genoa valia bologna and maestra so he says look the italian people are the best the very best

00:54:28.340 in fact they're the most dexterous the most they have the most strength they're the most subtle 0.93

00:54:32.360 they're so clever the only problem is because they're so excellent because the italians are so

00:54:36.640 great they've never been able to unify right that's why we have all the city states that's why

00:54:42.280 we have all this broken up because italians are so excellent and so powerful that they can never

00:54:47.860 ever really submit themselves because there's never been some guy who's just so much above

00:54:52.120 that he can reign in the italian excellence and you know when you think about the city states and

00:54:56.680 their impact and you know the fact that they generated all this culture and everything

00:55:00.160 towards the renaissance there's something to this right that the economic powers of these states

00:55:04.480 uh the cultural power of these states you know there is an excellence in the italian

00:55:08.600 that is manifested here and maybe maybe that is why they never submitted themselves to

00:55:13.980 this larger rule because they really were too excellent to be ruled this way

00:55:17.380 again you could think about the americans in a certain sense here

00:55:20.180 but then he says you however you can be the one who unites them you are so great you're going to

00:55:28.200 be the first person to really be able to master these italians and lead them they're going to

00:55:33.400 recognize your nobility and you're going to be able to unify them when no one else could again

00:55:37.980 very flattering very flattering if therefore you your illustrious house wishes to follow the these

00:55:45.420 remarkable men who've redeemed their country it is necessary for all things before all things as

00:55:50.840 a true foundation for every enterprise to be provided with your own forces because there

00:55:55.780 could be no more faithful truer or better soldier and although singly singly they are good

00:56:02.040 altogether they are much better when they find themselves commanded by their prince honored by

00:56:07.340 him and maintained at his expense therefore is necessary to be prepared with such arms so that

00:56:12.360 you can defend against foreigners by italian valor so again he repeats his his constant call

00:56:18.520 throughout the prince don't use mercenaries don't use outsiders don't use auxiliaries other people's

00:56:24.900 troops only use your own troops win with your own people america win with your own people not with

00:56:32.480 the people you import now with the people you pay off those will always be weaker you must use your

00:56:39.680 own people if you if your own people can't get it done you need to raise their level of virtue until

00:56:44.580 they can't but you need to use your own people never trust anyone else's thing if you win under

00:56:50.240 other people's arms other people's troops other people's wisdom other people's gold whatever it

00:56:54.960 is if you win under other people's resources if you're beholden to them you haven't really won

00:56:59.940 you're never really sovereign you're never really free so he's just a constant theme throughout for

00:57:05.220 Machiavelli and although the Swiss and Spaniard infantry have been uh may be considered very

00:57:10.920 formidable nevertheless there is a great defect in both by reason of which a third order would

00:57:16.800 not only be able to oppose them but might be relied upon to overthrow them for the Spaniards

00:57:22.000 cannot resist cavalry and the Swizzers are afraid of infantry whenever they encounter them in close

00:57:28.240 combat owning to this as we have as has uh owing to this as has been and may again be seen the

00:57:36.780 spaniards are unable to resist french cavalry and the switzers are overthrown by spanish infantry

00:57:42.040 and although a complete proof of this later cannot be shown nevertheless there was some evidence of

00:57:47.640 it at the battle of ravenna when the spanish infantry were confronted by german battalions

00:57:52.280 who follow the same tactics as the swiss when the spaniards by agility of body with their aid of

00:57:57.780 their shields got under the pikes of the germans and stood uh out of danger able to attack while

00:58:02.500 the germans stood helpless and if the cavalry had uh not dashed uh had not dashed up all would have 0.79

00:58:09.840 been over uh with them it is possible therefore knowing the defects of both their infantries to

00:58:15.060 invent the new one which will resist cavalry and not be afraid of infantry uh this need to uh this

00:58:21.840 need not to create a new order of arms but a variation upon the old and these are a kind of

00:58:27.820 improvements which confer reputation and power upon a prince so here he's talking about the

00:58:33.060 just basic tactics of the time the realities of the spanish having uh this really excellent uh

00:58:38.900 infantry force and like how you could get around these kind of things and if you want to know more

00:58:42.940 about machiavelli's like really really in-depth understanding of war tactics he also wrote another

00:58:49.360 were called the art of war, right?

00:58:50.860 It's not Sun Tzu's art of war.

00:58:52.140 It's Machiavelli's art of war.

00:58:53.820 Most people don't read it

00:58:54.700 because it's really just about

00:58:56.420 these really intricate,

00:58:57.940 detailed understandings

00:58:59.040 of battle plans for the time.

00:59:01.980 There are some few great nuggets

00:59:04.100 of political wisdom in there,

00:59:05.960 but it really is just about

00:59:07.180 hand-to-hand combat.

00:59:08.180 So if you're the kind of guy

00:59:08.920 who really loves learning

00:59:10.220 about kind of these,

00:59:12.200 well, not ancient,

00:59:14.160 but less modern

00:59:16.680 hand-to-hand combat formations,

00:59:19.360 Well, this is a great place for you if you really want to dive in there.

00:59:24.100 This opportunity, therefore, ought not to be allowed to pass for letting Italy at last

00:59:29.280 see her liberator appear, nor can one express the love with which he would be received in 0.99

00:59:36.560 all provinces which have suffered so much from these foreign scourings.

00:59:43.240 With that thirst for revenge, with a stubborn faith, and with that devotion, with what 0.98

00:59:49.320 tears? What door would be closed to him? Who would refuse obedience to him? What envy would

00:59:57.620 hinder him? What Italian would refuse his homage? To all of these barbarous dominions stinks.

01:00:05.160 To all of us, this barbarous dominion stinks. Let therefore your illustrious house take up this

01:00:11.840 charge with the courageous hope that all uh all just enterprises are undertaken so that uh so that

01:00:19.140 under its standard our native country can be emboldened and under its auspicious way may he be

01:00:25.240 uh verified that uh that saying of uh patriarch uh and then we have uh that's the latin uh i'm

01:00:35.340 getting better at latin but i'll go straight to the english here uh virtue against uh against

01:00:40.280 full shall virtue against fury shall advance the fight and it if combat soon shall put to death

01:00:49.160 and for the old Roman valor it is not dead nor is the Italian's breast extinguished so once again

01:00:55.640 he's laying it on here you can do it man you're going to be this one guy you're going to unify

01:00:59.300 Italy you're in this amazing moment you can create these new military tactics you can wield the power

01:01:04.200 of the church you have the the will of God on your side and once you win this once you unite all these

01:01:08.800 excellent Italians that no one else could ever rule and no one else could ever forge a great

01:01:13.260 state out of then everyone's going to love you everyone's going to exalt you like he is just

01:01:18.400 laying on as thick as possible because he's so very focused on this idea of a unified Italy

01:01:23.240 and again I want to stop at we you know that's the end of the prince but I want to stop and think

01:01:29.960 about what this means right because once we get to the end once we get to this last chapter the

01:01:34.820 rest of the book makes a lot of sense uh not that it didn't make sense before but we were revealing

01:01:39.540 something larger right when we see uh the context here at the end as is so often uh with books so

01:01:46.240 a lot of people look at Machiavelli and they say he's a teacher of evil he's a man who broke from

01:01:53.340 the ancients and thought purely about the politics of uh convenience about power about ruthlessness

01:02:00.940 uh he wrote in a way that no other uh guy would write and that completely shattered uh that you

01:02:06.700 know the kind of the the chain between like these like people who are looking for the most virtuous

01:02:10.780 society the most virtuous state and this guy who is just all about maintaining power and the

01:02:16.060 like brutal practical application of politics and there's truth to that right like i think we can

01:02:21.180 see that pretty obviously this is a guy who's saying yeah murder everybody in the line of

01:02:24.920 succession you know uh beat fortune like a woman like obviously this is a guy who's not shy uh with

01:02:33.340 some pretty rough advice you know if you're gonna if you're gonna uh if you're gonna harm somebody 0.98

01:02:38.060 just kill them because they'll they'll remember uh you know if you take their stuff uh they'll 0.98

01:02:42.700 remember that much worse than if you just kill like their father right so if you need to do harm 1.00

01:02:47.100 just just do the harm and get it over with like these are all really brutal pieces of advice

01:02:51.200 however we also have to remember what the ancients were writing about as opposed to what

01:02:57.120 Machiavelli's writing about when you think about Plato or Aristotle they're largely concerned with

01:03:03.360 the politics of the city of that you know that polis that that political unit that group

01:03:10.180 it's a very much smaller task to bring a city onto the same virtuous plane you can rule a

01:03:18.540 homogenous group of people who are virtuous with um a lot more ease you don't have to be as ruthless

01:03:25.260 and you also have the uh you know kind of the ability then to aim for higher things

01:03:30.820 but Machiavelli's writing in a very different time the city-state is outdated in his eyes

01:03:36.580 the politics of the city are no longer the main politics instead we're seeing the politics of

01:03:41.860 the empire we're seeing the politics of the unified kingdom larger armies more influential

01:03:47.620 supply chains more unified economics and all of a sudden the politics of the city don't make sense

01:03:54.220 anymore all of a sudden the idea of maximizing the virtue of the city is no longer enough because

01:04:01.600 those virtuous city-states can't stand against these unified empires but what does it take to

01:04:06.200 create a unified empire well someone far more ruthless someone who is willing to find ways to

01:04:13.580 forge peoples who otherwise not may not work together and dominate them in a way that forces

01:04:18.180 them to work together someone who's willing to do whatever it takes to manage power at that level

01:04:22.500 so we can see Machiavelli as someone who destroys the politics of the ancients and leads us into the

01:04:30.260 more modern and sinister version of politics or we could see Machiavelli as a guy who is responding

01:04:36.920 to the times as he advises us to do and someone who says look the politics of the city are no

01:04:43.500 longer the politics that allow us to function. We now need the policies of the unified state.

01:04:50.580 We need a politics of scale. And maybe a politics of scale can't operate the same way

01:04:55.860 that a politics of the city do. In case you haven't noticed, this is something I try to

01:05:01.480 tell people all the time, that the politics of the Republic and the politics of the Empire

01:05:05.180 might not be the same. That if you want to maintain the Empire, you might have to give up

01:05:09.360 some of the things that you liked about the virtuous Republic. Or if you want to go back

01:05:12.860 to the virtuous republic, you might have to give up some of the trappings you enjoyed about the

01:05:16.200 empire. That perhaps our politics are not one set fixed thing, but they are things that respond to

01:05:23.580 the challenges of the scale of the issues we're trying to address. When we're trying to address

01:05:29.080 things at the scale of the city, perhaps virtue is the only thing that matters. But when we try

01:05:33.560 to address them at the level of the unified grand state, well, maybe we need something else. Maybe

01:05:40.180 virtue is not enough again i think these questions are complicated i don't think machiavelli is right

01:05:47.300 about everything at all i think that in many ways he does advocate a morality that is horrific in

01:05:53.500 the eyes of myself as a christian but we do have to take these things seriously we can't simply

01:05:58.160 dismiss machiavelli as evil we have to have a context for why he wrote the prince what he was

01:06:04.360 trying to achieve because once we understand that Machiavelli is discussing a much different

01:06:10.780 form of politics than Aristotle or Plato then all of a sudden his break from them however radical

01:06:17.660 makes more sense maybe it's wrong maybe it's ultimately the wrong way to go about things

01:06:22.300 but we have to consider it in that context we have to have the full view when we judge Machiavelli

01:06:28.300 against previous political theorists previous political philosophers because if we can't do

01:06:34.900 that then we make a big mistake and i think this is a mistake a lot of people are making right now

01:06:39.740 in modern american politics they're not willing to look at the times they're not willing to look

01:06:43.600 at how things are changed and how we have grown and where we're at instead they're far more

01:06:49.800 interested in just saying always do the same thing we've always done always maintain the same thing

01:06:54.600 that's always been there and, and try to do it. Even if everything around us has wildly altered

01:07:00.020 the position we're in. And I think as Machiavelli points out here, that is unadvisable. All right,

01:07:07.220 let's take a look at our questions real quick. Mr. Nikes says Chris Rufo dog walked as recline

01:07:13.840 in that recent interview. Would love to hear you cover some of it. Also thoughts on, uh,

01:07:19.680 the Platner scandal. Uh, so I watched the Rufo interview and in some ways, yeah, he definitely

01:07:25.940 ran around Ezra Klein. In other ways, I feel like, uh, he gave up too much ground. Um, I'm trying to

01:07:33.540 remember exact moments there. I would have been far more assertive about the immorality of Democrats.

01:07:40.300 I think he conceded far too, because I think he's embarrassed of, of kind of Trump. Um, and some of

01:07:46.480 the way that Trump behaves, he was willing to kind of let Ezra Klein too much space,

01:07:56.560 too much latitude to lecture him on the morality of the Trump administration while not bringing

01:08:02.700 up often enough, like, no, but you guys are mutilating kids. 0.96

01:08:06.040 Like you're chopping off the genitals of children, which is like way worse than whatever issue 0.99

01:08:11.420 you have with Trump. 0.98

01:08:12.740 Like, I think there was a lot of space to take Klein the mat on that.

01:08:16.280 But he did, he did beat Klein up, uh, on several issues and good for him on that.

01:08:20.680 He definitely got Klein to admit some, uh, some things that he probably would not want

01:08:25.420 to, uh, when it comes to the grant, the Graham Plattner scandal.

01:08:28.500 I mean, I just, I'm so bored with this.

01:08:31.280 I like, I get it.

01:08:32.620 It's important at some level, but, uh, the Dems just nominate evil people. 0.99

01:08:38.160 Like their politicians are horrible. 0.95

01:08:39.740 Not to say the Republicans are much better. 0.99

01:08:41.520 Um, in many, in some cases they're worse.

01:08:43.260 uh but uh the democrats do not care about the morality of their candidate the fact that they

01:08:48.120 hung in with this guy despite like claiming that they care about women and all this stuff

01:08:52.700 until basically he was credibly accused of uh watching my words on to youtube uh sexually

01:08:59.960 assaulting a uh a female uh that uh had some some you know liberal clout or something uh the fact

01:09:08.000 that that you know is what tipped them over whatever like i i don't care i hope they eventually

01:09:11.940 get rid of him i hope they deserve to lose for putting him up there and keeping him up there

01:09:15.640 uh but outside of that i mean i just don't expect i don't expect the dems to put any kind of moral

01:09:20.300 person forward what like pete pete buddha judge buying kids like that's but that's like their

01:09:26.180 front runner of at some level right gaza gavin newsom who looks like uh he's conned about you

01:09:31.740 know a thousand elderly people out of their life savings i i don't understand um i don't think

01:09:38.220 they're ever going to have, you know, anything approaching a morally upstanding candidate again.

01:09:43.060 All right, guys, we're going to go ahead and wrap this up. It's been a pleasure reading

01:09:46.480 The Prince with you. Again, if you want to watch the whole series, it is in a playlist on YouTube.

01:09:54.240 So, you know, if you've never read The Prince and you want to get someone to read it to you while

01:09:58.120 also giving you insights and commentary, you have that there. But of course, I encourage you to read

01:10:02.340 it yourself as always. Again, short read, not simple, but easy to read relatively. And so I

01:10:11.280 encourage people to pick up the book and enjoy it, but also go through the series if you missed any

01:10:17.380 of the previous episodes. Of course, if this is the first time on the channel, then you need to

01:10:22.860 subscribe, click the bell, notifications, guys, if you can like the video, all that helps with

01:10:26.800 the algorithm. If you want to get these broadcasts as podcasts, you need to subscribe to the Oramac

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01:10:35.880 helps with the algorithm magic thank you everybody for watching and as always i will talk to you next

01:10:40.440 time

The Auron MacIntyre Show - July 08, 2026

Machiavelli： How to Master Fate ｜ 7⧸8⧸26

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