Essay on Machiavelli's, The Prince: How it is better to be a leader that is feared and not hated, rather than loved.

Essay by Annj1981College, UndergraduateA+, December 2008

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Since the beginning of civilization man has continually been faced with the complexity of creating a peaceful and unified existence for all, without resistance or violence. People have been trying to develop a system of how to rule effectively while acting ethically and morally to avoid chaos and destruction. However, as history has shown us this has not been an easy endeavor and very few rulers have been able to accomplish this. "This leads us to a question that is in dispute: Is it better to be loved than feared, or vice versa?" (Machiavelli, 51) An effective ruler would be one that relies upon fear without hatred, rather than love, as described by Niccolo Machiavelli in his book The Prince.

In a perfect world all people would be good-hearted, all would treat each other equally, and all would follow and respect the rules of society. Machiavelli points out that people tend to focus how the world should be rather than how it is.

"Let us leave to one side, then, all discussion of imaginary rulers and talk about practical realities." (Machiavelli, 48) It is easier to complain about problems and society than it is to become a leader and produce positive change. All individuals have different perceptions of what it takes to keep order in a world where not all is good and not everyone gets along. It is easy for one to discuss ideals of how things ought to be, and to use reality to form a dream of something different that we believe would be better than the current state of affairs. Dreams though can not be actualized without action, and all the discussion in the world will accomplish nothing if everyone sits idly by. We all want peace, and in order to have peace there must be...