mach

Both Machiavelli and Marx have had wide ranging influences on politics throughout the world. I believe that Machiavelli would approve of many of Marx’s beliefs for the betterment of regular people. In my opinion, these authors are two very different people from distinct time periods with divergent philosophies that overlap in areas. Both authors believed that they were the true modern philosopher. According to the guide for the Prince, Machiavelli wanted to distinguish himself as a realist from the previous philosophers like Plato, Aristotle and the medieval Christian thinkers. In the similar way, Marx thought his theory was scientific and superior to all others (Bagby 204).

Many of Marx’s ideas can be viewed though a Machiavellian lens. According to the lecture, Machiavelli thought the prince should take away the rich people’s wealth to reduce their power instead of taking money from regular people whom Marx would have referred to as the proletariat. Also, politically the prince must provide good laws for common citizens to get their loyalty and support. One area of difference can be heard in Mr. Noelle’s Lecture when he referred to Machiavelli as being more concerned with allowing people to live better lives through the behaviors of the leaders. Marx thought the people would bring about that change and grow stronger in the process. For example, in the struggle against the bourgeoisie, the proletariat must “become concentrated in greater masses, it strength grows” (Marx 60).

Another area of agreement I believe is the effects of religion. Machiavelli did not regard the Church as a good political player and rejected parts of its influences (Bagby 49). Dr. Johnson pointed out in class that it was suggested that the Prince should...

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...ea of the need to remove the ruling class of Bourgeoisie.

The writing and ideas of both authors are still very much with us today. The Marx Parallel writing showed just a few example of how their thoughts have been adjusted to modern day problems like education and the workplace. In the dedication, Machiavelli wrote” to comprehend the nature of the people, one must be a prince, and to comprehend fully the nature of princes one must be an ordinary citizen”. As the lecture pointed out several times that Machiavelli suggested that leaders need to pay attention to the people and change people attitudes in order to think about long term goals. In conclusion, I think that Marx’s ideas of change in theory would be more to Machiavelli’s liking. Lastly, as the people’s power video pointed out that sometimes these things can be viewed better in theory than actual practice.