Christians should not be fooled by the Machiavellian technique of using a crisis to gain political or economic power. 

 

The title of today’s podcast comes from Niccolò Machiavelli, known as one of the most devious of leaders.  Early in the 16th century, he wrote a book titled The Prince.  He claimed that his experience and reading of history showed him that politics has always been played with deception, treachery, and crime.  He also said that a ruler who is criticized for his deeds, including violence, should be excused when the intention and the result are beneficial to him.  Wow, not a nice guy.  So, even today, when we hear the phrase Machiavellian, we know the leader is assuming political or economic power for himself, at the expense of others. In more recent times, the quote was used by Rahm Emanuel when he was serving as chief of staff to President Obama.  So the phrase means that a leader is USING a current crisis to gain what they’ve always wanted: Political or economic power.

Julius Caesar saw a crisis in crime and told the Senate that if they gave him power, he would only keep it for a short time, then turn it back.  Perhaps there’s never been better proof of the fallen nature.  When awarded power, people seldom give it up.

I mentioned in a recent podcast that Chilean President Gabriel Boric had nationalized the lithium mines in his country.  You think he’s going to give them back to the public?  The only clear example of a political leader turning back economic power was when Margaret Thatcher privatized many leading industries in Great Britain in the 1980’s.  Oh, then there’s George Washington, who could have been king of the new United States.  When told by the American artist Benjamin West that Washington was going to resign, King George III of England said "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."  Think about it: Was there NOTHING going on at that time?!  You think Washington didn’t have the right to use the Machiavellian phrase, “Don’t let a crisis go to waste?”  Meaning: I just need to stay in power for ONE MORE term?!  I unpack this more fully in podcast #146 titled Power Corrupts.

 

Nothing New Under the Sun

That’s my point today.  Yes, there’s trouble in the United States, and in the world.  There always HAS been.  I’ve been reading a book by a distant family friend named Gilbert Fite.  Along with his co-author Jim Reese, they wrote a book titled An Economic History of the United States.  Guess what year they wrote the following:

“…… many middle-class Americans were troubled.  They resented the growing welfare costs, they were disturbed by crime and violence, they objected to increased taxes for themselves and tax loopholes for some of the wealthy, they were critical of undisciplined college students, and they disliked the bigness and inefficiency of government.  ……… tensions were high between the rich and the poor, between blacks and whites, between young and old, between liberals and conservatives.  There seemed to be little agreement among the people or their political representatives as to how best to deal with the nation’s problem and reduce conflicts and tensions.”

That quote is from the third edition of their book, in 1973.  So there’s nothing new under the sun, as it says in Ecclesiastes 1:9.

 

Cycles, not trends

Ginger and I attended a lecture recently by John Pinheiro.  He’s the new director of research for the Acton Institute.  As often happens, the most interesting observation was in the quest...