Maravi

Politics without morality

Politics without morality
Written by Martin Kalungu-Banda
Monday, October 27, 2008 10:31:07 PM

The ruler must make sure that his name is associated only with good things.

For instance, the ruler himself must directly reward citizens who have done soothing good. He must never deputise when there is good news for the citizens. However, the ruler must send his lieutenants if it is time to punish someone or announce some policy initiative that will somehow impact the citizens negatively.

What happens in the long run is that citizens associate bad things with the ruler's lieutenants and good things with the ruler himself. Such a situation guarantees the ruler's position and consolidates his power.

On how the ruler can avoid flatterer

Machiavelli observed that the ruler is always surrounded by people who are eager to tell him only the nice things that he would like to hear, regardless of how far removed from truth those things are. He advised the ruler to ensure that he communicated to the people that they would not harm him by telling him the truth. Machiavelli, in his usual style, quickly added a rider to his counsel, “But when anyone can tell you the truth, you lose respect.”

He enjoined the ruler to select a few wise men who would be the only ones permitted to speak truthfully to him, and they must do so only on the things he asked their advice. He said, “Apart from these, he should refuse to listen to anyone else, pursue his goals directly, and be obstinate in the decisions he has taken.

Any [ruler] who does otherwise either comes to ruin because of the flatterer, or keeps changing his mind in the face of different opinions; resulting in a low estimation of his worth… Therefore, a [ruler] should always seek advice, but when he wants to, and not when others wish it.”

Conclusion: Politics must have morality.

Human beings are by nature good:

As I conclude this article, I would like to say that while Machiavelli's teachings have been and are being used by some rulers, there is something that is not right about the society that Machiavelli paints in The Prince.

First, Machiavelli's assertion that human nature is essentially evil and flawed is simply not correct. There is sufficient evidence that human beings are by nature good and well meaning. How else then do we explain the kindness we see in the world?

Voluntary gestures of people looking out for one another. For instance, for most people saving a drowning child or helping an elderly person or flagging up some lost property is as natural as breathing. More often than not, human beings do not need rules to do good. Undeniably, there are people for whom defrauding another person or causing harm comes almost naturally. By and large, these cases are rare, few and far between, and they are usually symptoms of something we are not doing well as a society.

There are values rulers should hold sacred come what may:

Machiavelli argues that the only morality for a ruler is to maintain himself in power. Surely, there are values that we, as human beings, hold so sacred that even if it cost us our lives we would not abandon them. For instance, keeping promises, being honest and kind, and respecting other people's right to life are some such values.

If Machiavelli's teachings were followed by societies - and we have seen what happens when societies are unfortunate to have such leaders - we would end up with the rule of the jungle. As the ruler wantonly imposes his will and cunning ways on society, a spirit of survival of the fittest sets in. We would live in a society where life would be, in Thomas Hobbes' words, “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” And some society are, unfortunately, going through this as we speak.

The responsibility of running society is too important to be left to one or a few individuals with the state's powers of coercion. Rulers are supposed to run state affairs in trust of the people. It is the kind of authority that should make sense only because it is derived from the will of the people rather than the dictates and vagaries of one or a few rulers.

Power is not the end in itself:

Machiavelli presents power as if it is an end in itself. Power and authority are a means to an end - a society where everyone can realise his or her potentials.

If there is any praise that is due to Machiavelli it must be given on the basis that his writing exposed the thoughts and attitudes of some people who aspire or are already in power and yet are totally unsuitable to hold high office. He gave us the language to name the elephant in the room.

As we await election day, let us look out for those leaders who genuinely see the position they are aspiring for as an opportunity to serve the country rather than satisfy their ambition to rise to the top and enjoy power for its own sake.

Let us look out for leaders who genuinely value morality over trickery and canning behaviour. We must choose leaders for whom honesty, integrity, truth-telling, and respect for human life are more important than ascending to and maintaining oneself in a position of power.

Maybe the reader could take time to score the presidential candidates using the table below.

Score between 1 and 10, with 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest.

Criteria Candidates

Rupiah Banda Godfrey Miyanda Hakainde Hichilema Michael Sata

1. Respect for human rights.
2. Commitment to fighting corruption.
3. Commitment to running an honest and transparent government.
4. Commitment to honouring promises.
5. Knowledge of people's problems.
6. Knowledge of possible solutions to society's problems.
7. Ability to work as an equal member of a team.
8. Ability to inspire the trust of the local (national) community.
9. Ability to inspire the trust of the international community.
10. Ability to listen to and learn from others.
11. Humility to admit mistakes and ask for forgiveness.
12. Capacity to know when to handover power.

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Labels: MACHIAVELLI, POLITICS

posted by MrK @ 10:28 PM