I have found that if you want to shock students, or really anyone, you propose the radical idea that politicians should be pillars of virtue and the end of government should be a just society.
A just society, borrowing from Plato, is one that reflects the properly ordered soul. The properly ordered soul is one in which the higher desires: moderation, wisdom, courage, guide the base desires: greed, stupidity, vanity. Society is merely the individual soul writ large. If the souls of the people are upside down then society will be too. Therefore, if we want a properly ordered society those in charge of the ordering should have properly ordered souls. Political leaders must themselves be just if society is to be just.
I can hear you laughing.
Students are shocked to read something that suggests there is a higher form of the good. They are shocked to hear one propose that we ought to strive for virtue in the political arena, that the government is something more than a provider of services and a means by which to wage war. I expose myself to good natured ridicule when I make the same suggestion to my friends and colleagues.
I don’t expect anyone to accept what I say out of hand. But it is useful to shock people for the same reason Machiavelli thought it useful. Shocking people is the only way to get them to question what they think they know about politics;about what it should be and can be. Thinking differently about important matters is the only way to move the political debate in a positive direction; which we need because the current debates are going nowhere good.
On one side of the political spectrum are those saying that we need more regulation to control the bad behavior of those who can’t regulate themselves. If history has shown us anything, it is that lawbreakers will always stay ahead of lawmakers. Also, it makes no sense to think that those who make laws will make good laws if the lawmakers are not first found to be good people. If we do not go back, before every instance of lawmaking, and ask what it is to be just, then nothing is guiding our laws but randomness. We cannot say our laws are good unless we first know what is required to be good. We do not typically ask these questions with any depth, which is why we cannot expect lawmakers or laws to be just.
On the other side of the political spectrum, we hear that we need fewer regulations; if we allow individuals the freedom to choose their own course, everything will work out for the best. The reason why government exists is because people won’t do the right thing if left alone. If you don’t believe me, ask Adam and Eve. Imagine if a society were created new, with almost no regulation, what people would make of it. The first and most lucrative operations would be those that catered to vices, and all we have to do is look at what businesses rose quickest on the Internet and still remain the most lucrative. Porn and gambling is what you get when you leave people to their own devices.
Article comments
1 - Dr Dreadful
Great piece, Kyle. It's always worthwhile pointing out that Machiavelli did not endorse the advice he set forth in The Prince, and that it was meant to be satirical. That much is obvious even before you start reading the book: look at the barely-concealed sarcasm of the dedication to Lorenzo de Medici. (Which Machiavelli knew was likely to pass right over his sponsor's head, as it does over most people's.)
2 - Kyle Scott
Dr. Dreadful,
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on my pieces. I appreciate the respsonse. Good call on the dedication as well. You are right, most people do not pick up on the satire.
3 - Baronius
Excellent article.
On a side note, it's always driven me crazy that high school English teachers assign works that would have shocked the 1950's establishment, but bore people today. I'm thinking of Death of a Salesman, Madame Bovary, The Scarlet Letter, et cetera. It's been a while since I was in h.s., but I think they're still doing it.
Have you thought about assigning Utopia? The first portion addresses the question of morality under an immoral government. Considering how that question played itself out in More's life, it may be the shock for your students that you're looking for. Of course, if you're looking for a good study of Italian political science, you can't do better than Dante.
4 - Igor
Excellent article, Kyle!
The diminution of morality and clear thinking in American society is well known. If you were to assign "The Prince" in class for a term paper most students would search the web for a ready-made essay immediately, perhaps even finding one of your own and submitting it as their own.
Of course our sick society focuses entirely on money as the all-purpose good, with which all the thrills of life can be purchased. Little wonder that students are eager to fake their way through school so they can get in on The Big Time scamming of Big Business.
5 - Dr Dreadful
If you were to assign "The Prince" in class for a term paper most students would search the web for a ready-made essay immediately, perhaps even finding one of your own and submitting it as their own.
No they wouldn't, Igor, much as they might be tempted to.
Just about the first thing students are asked to do nowadays when embarking on a new class is to read and sign the anti-plagiarism statement, in which the dire consequences of doing such a thing are made crystal clear, as is the ease of detection.
Doubtless there are still a few dumb enough to try, but "most"? Nope.
6 - zingzing
that's a pretty dim view of contempory academics, igor. from his bio, it says that kyle works at duke, which is no chump school (except in basketball, where they are awful, awful people). nobody's going to work hard enough to get into duke, and then shell out that much money, just to cheat themselves out of the education they've worked for the last dozen years to achieve.
unless they're some legacy student who has a spot at daddy's firm on the other side. but those don't make up the bulk of students in america, or at duke. not that duke students aren't snobby little blue... ugh.
7 - Glenn Contrarian
Kyle -
Excellent article - it sorta reminds me of a quote by Cicero: "The youth of today are so disrespectful, and they all want to write a book". For when it comes to human nature, the more things change, the more they stay the same. In order to address your observation below:
Students are shocked to read something that suggests there is a higher form of the good. They are shocked to hear one propose that we ought to strive for virtue in the political arena, that the government is something more than a provider of services and a means by which to wage war. I expose myself to good natured ridicule when I make the same suggestion to my friends and colleagues.
I would suggest that you find one that is more relevant to the modern day, such as The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China which goes in depth into good government and is studied and used today in China. Remember the fears that the "Y2K computer problem" was going to crash the world's computers at the turn of the millennium? In order to make sure that the jetliners wouldn't fall out of the sky, the Chinese premier directed that all their airline CEO's would be in the air at midnight at Y2K. Of course Y2K caused a lot few problems than we thought it would, but what the Chinese airline CEO's were forced to do came right out of the Seven Military Classics, as does much else of what their government does.
As far as holding the government accountable, I would recommend teaching the importance of the Fourth Estate, for there are so many examples not only of how the traditional media are so often manipulated to the nations detriment (examples can be found in almost any nation), but also of how as time marches on, the truth will out; it (almost) always does. Sadly, the truth often doesn't come out in time to save the lives of so many, but still it always comes out.
When it comes to corruption in government, there is nothing going on that hasn't happened before except with the speed at which it occurs. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, greed and treachery and spite are part and parcel of human intercourse, as have courage, compassion, and - above all - honor. The students have to be made to understand that most people inside or outside of government really do try to do the right thing (in the point of view of those people), and that the cynicism that they (the students) feel is based on fear and frustration, and that they must have the courage to reject the cynicism that would stop them from doing their best for themselves and for the world.
Kyle, I apologize for going on such a rant - my sanctimony is showing - but those are just a few suggestions for overcoming the cynicism of the youth of today...who are really not so different from the youth of Cicero's time.
8 - El Bicho
Who's bored by Death of a Salesman? I never ceased to be amazed by what people write in the comments
9 - roger nowosielski
Cicero, Flaubert, Arthur Miller, Dante -- whatever one thinks of them, we've got an educated audience here.
One would think it's the Kenyon Review.
10 - Baronius
El - The writing style is heavy-handed Miller, and that *is* boring, but I was referring mostly to the sentiments expressed in it.
The Prince doesn't shake up kids today because they're brought up suspicious of governments' intentions. Likewise, Death of a Salesman won't startle the youth, because they didn't grow up believing in the American Dream of hard work guaranteeing success.
11 - Deano
I always find it interesting that people begin and end their Machiavelli with The Prince and never bother to read his Discourses, the content of which is much more focused on the ideals and workings of a republic and less on cold realpolitick.