Modern Machiavelli

For today’s posting I’m going to deviate from the topic of war for just a bit to talk about the political power in America. All across the world there are different governments with different philosophies. Some are based heavily around religion, some around communism, and some around democracy. Though it may sound quite strange, the current government of the United States employs many Machiavellian techniques on governance. Throughout today’s post I will be talk about some specific examples of how specific Machiavellian factors have created deep inter governmental struggle.

 

biography.com

Even though Niccolo Machiavelli died nearly 500 years ago, his book The Prince is widely regarded to be one of the most important and influential works of western literature ever (oedb.org). The book places a strong emphasis on the need for The Prince (or the governing body) to abandon principles and act ruthlessly and immorally, on occasion, to achieve a particular objective, or to maintain and expand power.

thecoloradoobserver.com

I am putting my personal political affiliation aside, as I will be talking about how the two main political parties (republicans and democrats) are acting upon these Machiavellian principles. Both parties have an agenda of various social and political policies that they would like to put into practice. Both parties have a set of values that they would like to instill, but only one candidate from one party can hold the position of Commander-in-Chief of the United States, and thus a conflict of maintaining power.

Throughout the course of American history, and particularly in modern-day partisan politics, we both innocent people as well those in power being attacked (in all sense of the word) in order for a group’s political gain. Whether it be the Red Scare of the 1950s or the controversy over Obama’s birth certificate of 2011.  These types of deceitful and baseless attacks are encouraged by Machiavelli in The Prince, which prompts the famous quotation from chapter 17.

 “…a debate arises with her is better to be loved than feared or the contrary. The answer is that one would want to be both the one and the other, but because it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer to be feared than love, if one has to do with that one of the two ” (Machiavelli 91).  

 

politico.com

This perpetuation of fear is exactly what is happening in American politics today - Democrats fear the legislation proposed by Republicans and vice versa. This creates immediate conflict between the two groups when discussing any issues, no matter how trivial. This behavior escalates as a more extreme legislation is presented to appeal to the extreme views that result from the feud. 

             
             All of this internal conflict would be fine if there was one objective voice of reason, and in the Machiavellian model, that is the prince; we do not have a prince. We have a government that has fallen into the hands of designed conflict with no one to make proper decisions in the best interest of the people

Works Cited

Machiavelli, Niccolò, and William J. Connell. The Prince: With Related Documents.

Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. Print.

Scott, John T., and Robert Zaretsky. "Why Machiavelli Still Matters." The New York

Times. The New York Times, 09 Dec. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

Staff Writers. "50 Books That Changed The World." Oedb.org. Online Education

Database, 26 Jan. 2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2015.

 

Control at a Cost

New York Mag

           Throughout our discussion of war, from ancient epics to modern examples, I will look closer into the Theater of War that was touched on in the last posting. Thought there are no online arrangements to steam this film, I strongly suggest that you watch it before or after reading this post. Throughout this posting I would like to analyze the extent of the individuals, both in the play and in the creation of the performance, ability to delegate and receive authority. In addition I will observe the casting choices and artistic decisions made in the making of the play.

            When looking at the characters practices of authority it is important to note to ask with authority and who is acted upon. Over various parts of the documentary we see how the formation of Mother Courage is both influenced by Meryl Streep in the director John Walter. Streep notes how Mother Courage places monetary gain over the well being of her family and others.  In one particular scene, which really sticks out to me, Mother Courage is asked in a panic to provide cloth and bandage up someone that is been severely injured and is bleeding out. When a man asks Mother Courage for any cloth that she has, she says that she does not want to give any to him because they will get soaked with blood and become unsellable. This is a prime example of how Mother Courage exerts control through her restriction of material while displaying her flawed values, placing peoples lives behind making a quick buck.

Art Scene In Whales

             It is hard not to have an artistic appreciation for the play, especially after having researched the author and seen the movie. Though I do find the vast majority of the choices, made for the performance, to be quite good, I must agree with the “The Courage of Their Convictions” from New York Magazine stating that Meryl Streep as Mother Courage is clearly a miscasting. The whole point for Brechtian theater is that it is didactic while minimizing the interaction and any connection made to the audience by the actors. Given Meryl Streep’s extensive resume, I believe that she brought too much attention to the play. Though I do admit that an increase in the public’s exposure to Brecht is good, I do not believe that he would like publicity for his plays to be brought about in such a manor. 





 

Works Cited

Demack, Ian. "Why Machiavelli Matters." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 24 Sept. 2008.

Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

McCarter, Jeremy. "The Courage of Their Convictions." NYMag.com. New York

Magazine, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015..

 

What is War Worth?

Though my last two postings have been about modern coverage of war, this posting will focus on how the 30 years war is seen in various works and interpretations over time. The two examples that I will be focusing on are Bertolo Brecht’s Mother Courage and Hans JakobChristoffel von Grimmelshausen’s Simplicius Simplicissimus. Over the course of this posting I will observe similarities and differences of genre and storytelling.

            First, let us take a look at Bertol Brecht’s Mother Courage. The first thing to consider, especially when looking at any work by Brecht, is the underlying mission of his play as well his past experiences that have shaped the playwrights vision. In Theater of War, Director John Walter takes us into the mind of Bertol Brecht, and what led him to create one of the greatest plays about war, specifically in the epic genre. The documentary itself does a fantastic job of combining the history of Bertol Brecht’s life with the deliberate and artful decisions made by the plays translator Tony Kushner (who is a playwright himself). Meryl Streep plays the strong, steadfast, yet money driven Mother Courage. We see her character develop from the initial table readings to the final product. If you watch the documentary (which I highly recommend you do), Brecht’s philosophy of the audience is evident – he does not want an emotional audience, as he wants to teach people through his plays. When people would express emotional responses at his plays, Brecht was known to get extremely frustrated with both the audience and himself, thinking that he had not done his job to separate the didactic nature of his plays from the characters that he had created.

pierre-marteau.com

            Standing in stark contrast to the dynamic and impactful performance of Brecht’s Mother Courage, is Grimmelshausen’s Simplicius Simplicissimus. The story follows a homeless hermit, who is unbelievably naïve, as he goes through the motions of the 30 years war. In fact, Simplicius’s is called Simplicius because he is so simple that he does not even know his own name. This picaresque novel pokes fun at the dimwitted nature of Simplicius, as he is constantly taken advantage on and thrown in awkward situations that he has absolutely no idea how to deal with. This genuine naiveté is shown as Simplicius is tasked with watching sheep on his family’s farm where he was told to watch out for wolves that may attack his sheep; simple right? Well, the only thing that he knows about wolves is that they have 4 legs, like the majority of land mammals. When he sees horsemen come onto the field, where his sheep are, initially thinks they are wolves (since they have 4 legs), but when the horsemen take Simplicius away, he assumes that they are looking after his sheep. In reality, the horsemen came to pillage the land and the farmhouse. It is with a series of such woeful, yet humorous events that this novel shows the more simple impacts of war. 

http://www.history.com/topics/thirty-years-war

            When comparing these two texts, there is a great deal of underling similarity between two characters that appear to be worlds apart. While Mother Courage is far more independent that Simplicius, both of their lives are directly affected by the war that is going on around them. Mother Courage’s livelihood is based upon there being a war, so she can sell her goods, while Simplicius becomes more than just another hermit because the war has placed him in such odd situations. The Thirty Years war, setting of Mother Courage and Simpliccius Simplicissimus, was “… a pointless, grotesquely protracted, gruesome catastrophe for everyone except the handful of victors among the European aristocracy who profited from it,” detailing how, in some extreme cases, life is dependent on war (Kushner).

Works Cited

Brecht, Bertolt, Tony Kushner, and Charlotte Ryland. Mother Courage and Her Children = Mutter

Courage Und Ihre Kinder. London: Methuen Drama, 2009. Print.

Grimmelshausen, Hans Jakob Christoph Von, and George Schulz-Behrend. Simplicius Simplicissimus.

Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1965. Print.

Kushner, Tony. "Tony Kushner: Mother Courage Is Not Just an Anti-war Play." The Guardian, 8 Sept.

2009. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Theater of War. Dir. John Walter. Perf. Cast of Mother Courage. Publics Theater, 2006. Play.