My problem with realism...

It’s so incredibly tempting to become cynical while studying world politics and I am doing all that I can to remain idealistic here. Perhaps it is naïve, maybe even ignorant, but I have a really hard time just accepting some of Machiavelli’s theories. It would be easy to agree with him and other realists who just say, “this is how it is, there is nothing we can do to change it” but I refuse. If people don’t challenge society or the government or leaders then we have a problem. By not accepting that something just is the way it is, people can make change. Imagine if we had accepted monarchy as the best and only way to run a country… we never would have progressed toward democracy without challenging the status quo. So it’s unrealistic to squash idealism…that’s my problem with realism.

My main problem with Machiavelli’s theory that has stuck with me since I learned about him my freshman year in high school is the idea of choosing to be a feared leader rather than a loved one. Chapter Seventeen gets me going every time. Machiavelli specifically states that, “it is much safer to be feared than loved” and then continues to justify his claim with describing men as, “ungrateful, fickle, deceptive and deceiving, avoiders of danger, eager to gain.” I wholeheartedly disagree with this chapter’s premise both from my belief system and also from evaluating my own personal experiences.

First of all, Machiavelli’s idea goes against my aforementioned idealism. The funny thing is I never even considered myself very idealistic before this class, but I truly think that there is more to people than Machiavelli gives us credit for. Sure sometimes people can have those negative characteristics that Machiavelli pointed out, but people can also be kind, caring, compassionate, and respectful. He continually ignores the positive aspects of human nature and that really disappoints me. Again, that’s why I have a hard time with realism.

When I try to apply Machiavelli’s theory to my own life I only find that fearing a leader has been ineffective. Have any of you had really really awful bosses? Well I have, she was probably the scariest person I have ever met. Like no joke, she gave me nightmares for a while. At first her fear tactic worked on me, it kept me in line and working hard. But eventually I just got so sick of her negative attitude that I rebelled against her, only in the slightest of ways, but still. On the flip side, my high school principal was the nicest guy ever. Everyone followed him because he was so cool and understanding… but he knew when to turn up the heat and be strict. He is an example of how I think a leader should be: someone to be respected but not revered, to be loved but rarely feared.


Ok lets take a moment to appreciate Emily’s rhyme…. It’s hardly a post from Rachel, but I’m still proud.


I realize that most of you will come up with a million reasons to disagree with my idealism, but I can’t crack just yet. As for other matters Machiavelli related, I think the guy was pretty smart for his time. When I was reading The Prince I was marveling at how he got all of his facts and information. Accessing history wasn’t so easy back then. Even though I disagree with his principles, I definitely see how some of his theories have translated through into modern time, specifically his ideas about arms. In Chapter 6 he writes, “all armed prophets are victorious and disarmed ones are crushed” which clearly is still the case these days. The Cold War was all focused on nuclear weapons just as the current war in Iraq originally was intended to remove another country of nuclear weapons. Most of our foreign policy has to do with the military as it did when Machiavelli was alive and theorizing. I tend to agree that this part of The Prince is still reality, whether or not I like it.

I thought it was interesting in PTJ’s podcast how he pointed out that realists don’t necessarily like the theory of realism that they so strongly believe in. That was comforting to hear because I don’t like it either yet simultaneously frustrating. How can they accept a theory that they don’t like? Why settle for inadequacy? I guess it’s a good thing that we have a variety of different theories to study because then we can create a more informed opinion, so in a way we need realism to balance out some of the other theories. Needless to say, I’m excited to learn about the other theories that hopefully will agree with me more.