No respect? No authority.

On July 1st, 2013, I was serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I had been called to serve in the Washington Seattle mission, but effective immediately on July 1st, I became a missionary in the new mission, the Washington Federal Way mission.

The Positive Side to Being an Evil Politician: Machiavellianism

Truth is there probably isn't any. However, this is something that Niccolo Machiavelli might have argued with. Machiavelli believed that leaders should do whatever is necessary to accomplish political or leadership driven tasks. In his book The Prince Machiavelli said “it is better to be feared than be loved; for, in general, men are ungrateful, inconstant, hypocritical … and covetous of gain.” This mirrors some of my own characteristics when I served as a leader during my LDS mission. Although it isn't okay to lie, cheat, or do anything immoral to accomplish any task at hand, sometimes you must make the task at hand the first priority, ahead of being friends with your fellow missionaries, coworkers, or employees to be sure that it is completed successfully. Much of my leadership experience during my LDS mission tippy-toed close to some of the aspects of being a “Machiavellian”, which some might argue isn't the best approach, but given the successful work that took place during these efforts it is fair to say that Niccolo Machiavelli had a point in his political ideas.

            Machiavelli also brought forth main stream Renaissance ideas into the political sphere. His book The Prince, which focuses on what it takes to be a strong leader, had the intent to help unite the Italian city states because they were weak compared to surrounding countries that had a more unified state set up. In a political way this continued the celebration of individualism which was a recurring theme of the Renaissance. Although Machiavelli wanted the city states to be united it was not so much a communal idea as it was a unifying of Italian states from the rest of the world. This is the same type of individualism that is more easily present with the art and poetry of the time.