The Prince is basically Niccolo Machiavelli’s guide to what he believes makes a successful leader. Machiavelli clearly believes that honesty is not the best policy. The Prince states, “And so, a wise ruler cannot, nor should he, keep his word when doing so would be to his disadvantage and when the reasons that led him to make promises no longer exist (C, 236). Machiavelli writes that the most prestige rulers are not always loyal to their people, and that the trick is to be good at deceiving. The Prince also says, “And men, in general, judge more according to their eyes than their hands; since everyone is in a position to observe, just a few to touch” (C, 237). This statement is saying that it is important to appear to have certain characteristics because the majority of people will judge you on how you look to be and only few will have the ability to figure out who you really are.
An article titled A Nazi Is Exposed, but Did He Have Anything to Hide? was published in the New York Times on December 7th. This article is about a man, Mark Gould, finding out about a former Nazi, Bernhard Frank. The article describes how Gould became fascinated with the Holocaust and decided to do research on the event in Germany. Though his findings he accused Frank as being a Nazi who aided to a very powerful man during the Holocaust. Gould believes that Frank should be penalized for what he was a part of years ago, however Frank denied ever playing a part in the tragic event years ago. Although Frank has written a book on his experiences and there are taped interviews of him talking of his experience, he still denied being involved. The article states, “In a telephone interview from his home in Frankfurt, Mr. Frank said he knew nothing about the Holocaust, a statement that seems doubtful given his administrative role in Himmler’s office. ‘I’ve never done statements concerning the Holocaust, because I just don’t exactly know much about it,‘ Mr. Frank said. ‘You have to be careful with statements. Do you understand?’” This article compares to The Prince because Bernhard Frank acted exactly the way the book says he should have. Frank denied all of the accusations against him and attempted to deceive everyone about his role as a Nazi. Although it is certain Frank played a major role in the Holocaust he still would not admit to it because he knew of the consequences. Machiavelli says that when telling the truth would come as a disadvantage to yourself that is when it is acceptable to be dishonest.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/world/europe/08nazi.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=world December 7, 2010
