Welcome to Machiavelli

A few years ago, I picked up a copy of Machiavelli's The Prince. In popular culture, Machiavelli is seen as one of history's most controversial political figures who wrote things like "it is better to be feared rather than love". Most of this perception comes from analysis done on his most famous work: The Prince. 

However, if you read any of his other work or understand the circumstances that lead him to write The Prince in the first place, you'll find that Machiavelli wasn't the tyrannical power mad ruler people usually associate with his name. He was actually a realist. A realist who loved his home city-state of Florence.  

Machiavelli's most famous work, The Prince, was actually written after he'd been tortured and exiled by a new government that steamrolled in to conquer his beloved republic. It was essentially a very long cover letter telling the new ruler "hey, I actually know what I'm doing and can help you out." 

Unfortunately, (like so many written cover letters by job seekers) the guy Machiavelli wrote The Prince for likely never read it. Though the Vatican did and they promptly banned it - which naturally meant that everyone wanted to read it. 

This is perfect example of how banning a book can backfire.

If you want a brief summary on Machiavelli, I recommend checking out The Overly Sarcastic Productions video on YouTube (click here). Their video was what actually got me interested in reading The Prince in the first place. Prior to their synopsis, my only knowledge of him was through pop culture and his (evil) portrayal in the Immortal Diaries of Nicolas Flamel series. 

My take on The Prince was that I needed to know more Italian pre-renaissance history to understand what was going on and that Machiavelli could be a sarcastic realist to the extreme.

Now, this was my take on the job application that would end of up in the garbage bin. Other people have read The Prince and taken it quite literally or as a way to navigate the worst of humanity.

Stacy Vanek Smith, a reporter from NPR, had her own take on The Prince. One that heavily leaned on the idea that Machiavelli was a realist who genuinely understood how good and bad people can be. She recently released her book: Machiavelli for Women: Defend your Worth, Grow your Ambition, and Win the Workplace. It's a modern take on Machiavelli, adapted for the work place. Princes are now bosses and co-workers fighting for a spot beyond middle management. 

Overall, I thought the book was good for workplace advice, but lacked enough Machiavelli to satisfy me. However, I will concede that she found a lot of great parallels between Machiavelli's observations on princes and the work place. When she incorporated Machiavelli in her analysis and advice, I thought it was spot on.

It also helped me revaluate some of my reading of The Prince. 

I admit that 15th and 16th century Italian history is not something I am an expert in. I know the great artistic masters like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Rafael (the guys the Teenage Ninja Turtles are named for). I am also aware that Italy was a mishmash of city states that wouldn't be united for at least another few centuries. Oh, and Pope Alexander VI had kids - one of which, Cesare Borgia, is heavily referenced in The Prince because he conquered the Republic of San Marino in 1503. Popes aren't supposed to have kids and their family dynamic was super messed up.

Smith's book added even more historical context around the Italian political climate of 15th and 16th centuries that Machiavelli lived through. Machiavelli had to be a realist when your entire life could be flipped in an instant. Italian republics rose and fell at the same rate Italian Princes did - often and with little stability. He wanted what was best for his home, Florence.

Machiavelli wasn't evil. He was a smart man hoping to do right by his home. In some ways he succeeded. People still read The Prince - though it is often taken out of context.

Smith's book shows that not all conquerors are found on the battlefield. I think she succeeded in writing a modern workplace take on The Prince and has a great understanding of Machiavelli. There are many things we want in this work, but we can't have any of them without taking a hard look at reality.

Until next week.

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Welcome to Climbing Mountains

Twenty years ago, one of the biggest traumatic events in the world happened. It triggered a series of further traumatic events that have rippled to affect things through the 2000s, 2010s, and today. There are adults who don’t remember a time when the US wasn’t at war.

But I don’t want to discuss that today. I’ve already written plenty of blog posts about it. 

This week has been stressful. My cat has been sick and I’m hoping she’s okay. One two hour trip to the vet left us with more questions than answers. I think she’s getting better, but it was a tough couple of days.

So much of the past few years have felt like never ending challenges - like trying to climb a mountain and finding more of that mountain to climb. I’ll think I’ll get to the top of my mountain, congratulate myself, turn around, and shout “you’ve got to be kidding me” as I see more mountain.

 However, I keep climbing that mountain because I know at some point I will reach the top and I’ll feel fantastic once I get there.

Just so long as this doesn’t turn into the story of Sisyphus.

If you’re not familiar with the Greek myth, it’s about a guy named Sisyphus who kidnapped the god of death, Thanatos, tricked Persephone, and royally pissed off Hades. He was punished by the gods to roll a giant rock up a mountain only to have the giant rock roll back down the mountain over and over again once he reached the top. Overly Sarcastic Productions has a great synopsis of the myth (click here). 

Personally, I always picture Sisyphus getting squashed into a pancake like a Loony Toon when the rock rolls back down.

Right now, I feel like the mountain of problems and stress I’m climbing is never ending. Some days, I feel like I’m Sisyphus about to be flattened by everything I’m doing - though I’m not sure which god I annoyed/tricked/kidnapped to cause that.

But unlike Sisyphus, I plan on getting to the top of my mountain. Sisyphus is on the mountain all by himself. I know I have help. It’s safer to climb (and hike) with a buddy or a group. They’ll catch you if you trip, hold the back of your shirt so you don’t fall off a ledge, and cheer you on when all you want to do is quit. We’ll get to the peak of the mountain together. 

By the way that squirrel was pooping . What a great view for that.

Once there, I’ll relax a bit and then find a new mountain to climb. Because even though mountain climbing might be tough, it feels great to get to the top. Plus there’s usually a spectacular view - especially when you can share it with those you climbed the mountain with.

How do I know this?

I climbed a mountain last week.

It wasn’t a big mountain, but it was a lot more precarious than my usual hikes to a spectacular peak. I went and visited my cousins who live near Acadia National Park in Maine. We had to get up at 5:45 to start climbing before everyone else got there. By the time we’d hiked the whole loop and got back to the ground, there was a line of people snaking their way up the rock’s face.

We’re all going to climb mountains. Some will be small and steep, others tall with gradual winding paths to the summit. Not one of us will have the same experience making our climbs. It’s not a contest or a race. Like any good story it’s a journey.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Folklore and Mythology Part 4: Life After Death

Happy New Year everyone - let's talk about death!

Or at least the stories associated with death because there are a lot.

Confused about why I chose this topic as my kick off to 2018? That's alright, I'm often confused by where my mind goes when it's left to wander around without a focal point to focus on. But I've been traveling around the Internet (and received a request to look into the myth of Sisyphus - basically the story of a guy trying to get out of dying) and stumbled upon a ton of mythology and folklore about that unknowable experience that is death and the afterlife.

I'm not really surprised by the number of stories associated with death, the afterlife, and dealing with the dead. It's one of the greatest mysteries about life. What happens after we die?

There are a lot of theories. The atheists I've talked to all say that there's nothing after death. Basically we just go poof. Reincarnation is another popular possibility and one I favor (one life time is just too short to experience everything this world has to offer). However, places such as underworlds seem to pop up a lot in the different mythologies and religions I'm most familiar with.

Growing up as a Protestant Christian, I was taught that good people go to Heaven and bad people go to Hell. My Catholic relatives might have talked about Purgatory on occasion (and were a little confused as to what happened to the Souls there when the Papacy no longer recognized it), but it wasn't really part of my belief system.

Of course, Christianity isn't the only religion in the world and doesn't have a monopoly on afterlife doctrine and it has gone through a number of changes over the years. There are a number of influences from Greek and Roman mythology (*cough Hades *cough), not to mention Norse mythology (*cough Hel *cough).

In fact, one of the most famous depictions of Christian afterlife, Dante's Divine Comedy, could easily be described as gratuitous self-insert fanfiction. Sadly, these aren't my words, I stole them from Overly Sarcastic Productions (I might reference this YouTube channel a lot in this post).

I could go on about the many depictions of Heaven and Hell (like I've written in all my posts about Folklore and Mythology), but that would create a sub-series into this series and I would prefer to avoid doing that. I also don't want to just list off the many different afterlife places that ancient people said they were going to. That would take forever and require more research than I'm willing to put into this post.

With that written, I want all of you reading to take a quick detour to YouTube to watch this video on underworld mythology and this one about a guy kidnapping death by Overly Sarcastic Productions (see, I told you guys they'd be referenced again) you can get a quick overview of a few myths I've been looking into. I'll wait for you to come back...

My general feelings on underworld and death mythology is that it's trippy as all get out. They have two basic flavors such as when one member of a loving breeding couple dies tragically or someone doesn't want to die, captures death, and causes tons of problems because of the situation (insert facepalm here).

Then there's the mythology and folklore about Death itself (not the act of dying, the physical embodiment of death). Usually, I think of Death as the skeleton like figure cloaked all in black, carrying a scythe known as the Grim Reaper. It's the image that has been ingrained in America's popular culture. Lindsay Ellis did a really interesting YouTube video on the depiction of Death in popular culture (mainly movies) and how this image has barely changed over the years.

The idea of Death as a person has actively been a part of my culture since I was a kid. I remember watching the shows "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" and "Dead Like Me". J. K. Rowling and Sir Terry Pratchett created their own versions of Death for their respective fantasy worlds. The common denominator between all of these versions is that Death just kind of wants to do their job and doesn't like it when the natural order is messed with.

The dementors from Harry Potter look a lot like the modern interpretation of the Grim Reaper

Or at least that's my interpretation of all the folklore and mythology about this subject that I've been exposed to.

Also if you do try to rescue your dead loved one from death/the underworld, don't turn around until you've gotten back to the land of the living.

I'm off go back to working on my coming-of-age-horror novel (which is partially why I did this research in the first place - no spoilers). Hopefully I'll be able to finish it before it's 2019. Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.