Excellent tribute to stoic and republican virtue. Trump cannot possibly have read Machiavelli. I doubt if he’s read the US Constitution, which might be a more realistic first step in his political education
I imagine someone once told him Machiavelli was “tough,” so he assumed he was a sort of Renaissance Putin.
I'll join the chorus below in thanking you for giving Machiavelli a fair shake, and Trump the shaking he deserves. Machiavelli was a realist when it comes to analyzing government, nation states and human beings. He understands when and how people fail in their attempts at good governance, both rulers and citizens. When he was harsh it was because he recognized that human interactions can be harsh, unfair, and most importantly, self-serving and wicked.
It is the people who do not recognize their self-interest or ignore it who lead the polity astray and corrode the relationship between leaders and the people. Donald Trump consistently seems to lack that perspective on reality, that ability to envision a larger public good that extends beyond his own immediate benefit. There is no doubt in my mind that he is exactly the kind of leader Machiavelli saw in his own time, and was trying to warn against for the future.
The biggest threat to our democratic republic is not the person who occupies the Oval Office. It is our elected representatives in the House and Senate who refuse or are unable to exercise the authority granted to them by our constitution. After all a nation state cannot in all honesty call itself a republic without an elected and effective legislative body. We as citizens have the right to demand from our Senators and Congress people an accounting of how they fulfill their constitutional responsibilities. Anything said beyond that is political hackery.
*Donald Trump is defending republican government and the rule of law from the Progressive Left's endless shadow-world undermining of America's freedom.
Excellent tribute to stoic and republican virtue. Trump cannot possibly have read Machiavelli. I doubt if he’s read the US Constitution, which might be a more realistic first step in his political education
I imagine someone once told him Machiavelli was “tough,” so he assumed he was a sort of Renaissance Putin.
Absolutely brilliant article.
I'll join the chorus below in thanking you for giving Machiavelli a fair shake, and Trump the shaking he deserves. Machiavelli was a realist when it comes to analyzing government, nation states and human beings. He understands when and how people fail in their attempts at good governance, both rulers and citizens. When he was harsh it was because he recognized that human interactions can be harsh, unfair, and most importantly, self-serving and wicked.
It is the people who do not recognize their self-interest or ignore it who lead the polity astray and corrode the relationship between leaders and the people. Donald Trump consistently seems to lack that perspective on reality, that ability to envision a larger public good that extends beyond his own immediate benefit. There is no doubt in my mind that he is exactly the kind of leader Machiavelli saw in his own time, and was trying to warn against for the future.
The biggest threat to our democratic republic is not the person who occupies the Oval Office. It is our elected representatives in the House and Senate who refuse or are unable to exercise the authority granted to them by our constitution. After all a nation state cannot in all honesty call itself a republic without an elected and effective legislative body. We as citizens have the right to demand from our Senators and Congress people an accounting of how they fulfill their constitutional responsibilities. Anything said beyond that is political hackery.
*Donald Trump is defending republican government and the rule of law from the Progressive Left's endless shadow-world undermining of America's freedom.
Hmm. Not sure Republican Romans, Florentines or our own founding fathers were concerned with anything other than an elected oligarchy of their own.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/misha-glenny-1b552810_is-trump-preparing-a-constitutional-coup-activity-7302334690516983808-h0J4?utm_medium=ios_app&rcm=ACoAAAvLdk8BpLnRSMNrU4T_wjNZVvsowmURkOs&utm_source=social_share_send&utm_campaign=copy_link
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/02/21/american-revolutions-9-parts-locke-1-part-hobbes/