The Modern Machiavellianism

Yesterday in class we tried to apply Machiavellianism to modern day issues, such as the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When thinking about possible blog posts over these issues, it occurred to me that we had been too literal in our application of Machiavelli to modern times. Machiavelli's political theories are still relevant today, but just not so easy to recognize where this relevance lies. Where his ideas can be best applied are in the theories over pampering, because it is my belief that how we are programmed to perceive the world and especially the political world is a form of pampering to keep the "principality" of the United States stable.

All the major news stations claim to be unbiased and to give a balanced and informative report on major issues. From my experience watching various news channels, I do not find this to be true. All I hear for the most part is political rhetoric and accusations. I could very clearly tell you how the left and the right both feel about the proposed Health Care plan, but I honestly do not think I would have much to say if you asked me to go into detail about what the plan actually entails. These news channels give us the pampering of believing we hold knowledge and are informed citizens, while really just feeding us comfort or fear with a spoon.

We are fed images of terrorists and enemies out to get us, and while these issues do need to be addressed, how many perceive these issues is rank with fear and close mindedness of the difference between "us and them", rather than attempts at understanding that could lead to better solutions. This manipulation extends to the types of issues that receive the most coverage. If you asked the average news watcher what the largest ongoing conflict is, most would probably mention Israel and Palestine or other conflicts that more directly affect the US and its interests. Few would mention conflicts such as the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been called the World War of Africa and is the deadliest conflict since World War II.

Much worse than the selective nature of news coverage is the changing focus I have noticed over recent years. Celebrity gossip and entertainment news have been creeping into political news sources more and more. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy trashy celebrity magazines so I am part of the problem, but it is going too far when I turn on CNN and hear about Britney Spears' latest scandal. This obsession with scandal and celebrity has begun to influence the way we perceive politicians as well. Sometime it seems like we care more about politician's personal and sex lives than about whether they are doing their job well. This points to a lack of political awareness in the US, because what it says is that since we don't really understand the issues we will instead choose politicians by how moral they appear. It is no coincidence that all presidents seem to make a show of being the perfect church-going family, because without this act their jobs would not survive.

The media quietly manipulates what people see and what they care about. They cannot be blamed entirely, because I do believe people have free will and that the news channels show what they think people are interested in. Even so, the media's pampering of Americans leads its citizens to focus on issues in ways that completely miss the point. Whether this is done to promote patriotism, for a bureaucratic agenda or otherwise, it does seem to keep our country stable as Machiavelli's theories predicted it would. But this is a different time, and there are costs for this stability which must be considered.