Bush Is Bad Makavelli

Eco 2013

Paper 3

In 1513, Niccolo Machiavelli released his novel The Prince. In this book, Machiavelli dictated his opinion of that of a true leader is and how he should maintain his kingdom. Essentially Machiavelli’s Prince was a “how to guide” on how he perceived a nation should be properly governed. Throughout history many strong leaders have been compared to the theories that Machiavelli established. One such leader is our current president, George W. Bush. This former Texas governor is now the leader of what is considered the strongest military force in the world. However, Bush is currently faced with the possibility of a full scale war which the drives us to the question, is Bush, by Machiavellian’s standards, a good enough leader? In comparison to Machiavelli’s ideals he is not a worthy enough leader because of his, lack of ability to do evil when necessary, he is not fear as a leader should be and due to his inability to lie in order to sustain the image of a true leader.

According to Machiavelli Bush should be able to when it is required of him to do evil, as this capability is an essential tool used to keep subjects in order, united and loyal. As a prince you should do good when necessary but be able and prepared to do evil when it is asked, and Bush is found to be more than lacking in this field for him to be considered a true Machiavelli prince. Using 9-11 as an example, an attack of such high degree on his own soil, Bush should have responded with the immediate slaughter of all opposing Muslim extremists, rather than the arrest of extremist soldiers. Bush should have taken an eye for an eye, yet he failed to execute the necessary evil needed to show the world that he will not stand for this. He failed to maintain an image of evil on demand to both his people and foreign countries. Machaivelli would most likely have no choice but to deem Bush as a weak leader as image and evilness is vital in showing that if you commit a crime against him, you will be punished severely and slowly.

Bush’s lack of necessary evil builds us up to another key factor in being a good leader, fear. A leader should above all be feared, rather than loved. A leader should not be mocked nor should there be a book of “Bush-isms” making fun of their flaws and mistakes. People should respect their leader and with in that respect should be an implanted fear of crossing him for fear of punishment. When 9-11 happened Bush’s inability to place the fear of punishment in the minds of foreign countries for their crimes, and his inability to place the fear of punishment in his subjects minds for their lack of joining the armed forces to ensure they win this battle, would have greatly displeased