Graham King

Solvitas perambulum

Machiavelli on Occupy Wall Street

society politics
Summary
In "The Prince," Machiavelli highlights the ongoing tension between the common people who desire freedom from oppression and the nobles who aim to dominate them. He advises that a ruler (substituted as "President" in today's context) should prioritize satisfying the common people over the nobles (similar to "the 1%") because the people have more honest and straightforward desires—to avoid oppression—while the nobles seek power and control. Thus, a President can govern effectively without relying on the elites, focusing instead on the well-being of the majority.

Reading Machiavelli’s The Prince, his advice seems just as relevant today. In On the civil principate he writes:

In every city there are two different humours, one rising from the people’s desire not to be ordered and commanded by the nobles, and the other from the desire of the nobles to command and oppress the people.

You cannot satisfy the nobles honestly and without harming others, but you certainly can satisfy the people. In fact, the aim of the common people is more honest that that of the nobles, since the nobles want to oppress others, while the people simply want not to be oppressed.

The Prince must always live among the same people, but he can do very well without a particular set of noblemen.

Substitute nobles with the 1%, and substitute Prince with President, and you get the advice he would probably give today.