Written in November 22, 2016; 3 days prior to my 23rd birthday
In the beginning of Chapter 26 of The Prince, Machiavelli quoted “Having considered all the matters we have discussed, I ask myself whether we are living through times suitable for the triumph of a new ruler, and if there is an opportunity for a prudent and bold [virtuoso] man to take control of events and win honor for himself while benefiting everyone.” This quote really speaks and correlates to the current events in our recent generation. Sadly, this is reminding me of the 2016 Election, which I will, unfortunately, never forget.
The contemporary politician that I say has the comparison within Machiavelli’s quote from The Prince is Donald Trump (despite he’s NOT even an experienced politician). To decipher, Machiavelli was saying that there are certain times where we may never expect what our leaders will do or say to protect our nation and they can be either reliable or unreliable. At times, their words of authority may cause us to be prone to listen to their lies that could be true and vice versa. His words may be strong and confident, though we need to watch out with what they’re saying. He could be telling us a little white lie that can put our nation into a giant shattered glass and huge cracked eggshells. Sometimes, it can happen; sometimes, it may not happen. We don’t know for sure.
In regards to Donald Trump, I, along with many other Hillary Clinton supporters, never believed in a single word he said when he claimed that he will “make America great again!” We were able to resist ourselves from being prone to listen to his words because we knew that deep within, he is lying just for the money and reputation. Instead of making America great again, we’re all aware that Trump will make things worse: without abortion, women may suffer fatal health risks; gun control with no restrictions can be more lethal; and not to mention how heartless he became when he claimed that immigrants will not be allowed to enter our country. Tragically for us, Hillary lost the campaign and we’re now in hot water by the time Trump takes over the office. Getting back to Machiavelli’s quote, we may never know if Trump will end up being a good leader or not. Who knows? We might become the next Egyptian slaves in American and we may end up burning up Troy.
Source: Machiavelli, The Prince. Ch. 26.
(C) by Nicole Cheng, 2016
Special thanks to Prof. Clayton Shoppa of St. Francis College