machiavelli

Awesome dude who lived in Italy a loong time ago. His best known book is "The Prince", which contains political tips for rulers. Some of his ideas from this book (and maybe a few from "The Discourses") as far as I can remember: -The Prince must be ruthless. -Effectiveness > good/bad. -Power should be acquired, not hereditary. -People are moral because others are watching. Political morality is lying and killing. Politicians must learn how NOT to be good. -Be feared; cruelty is a part of the state. But remember that the best fortress that exists is to avoid being hated by the people. Three ways to avoid being hated: Don't be erratic. Don't be a coward, FIGHT. And don't do anything for no reason. -Concept of seeming vs being: The Prince, while seeming human, must learn how to be a beast. Like a fox (cunning and tricky) or a lion (powerful). -And my personal favorite, he talks about these two dudes named Agathocles the Sicilian and Oliverotto of Fermo who both held meetings/banquets with leaders and important people and killed them all and took over as ruler. Point is, the elite can be killed, they're not important. The people are important. -Choose the people around you wisely. Ass kissers prevent you from seeing the truth cause they're always like "yes, you're awesome" to everything. -For a strong society, you must assume that everyone has the potential to be evil and make laws accordingly. People act good only when forced, laws exist where desire is.