K. Kumar's Blog, page 21

More Thoughts on The Prince

In The Prince, Machiavelli describes a certain world that is often hidden, it is a world we don't want to believe exists. In the world Machiavelli describes, particularly the leaders of this world, people must be willing to set aside their sense of morality, the law, the distinctions between right and wrong, and be willing to forsake the just route in order to secure power. If we are to believe that this is the true nature of the world we live in, then we must accept that most of what people...

Afterlife

Book Review: The Prince

The Prince is one part a brilliant reflection on the nature of man and in another way a sobering reflection on our need for power over others. Machiavelli talks frankly about destroying enemies and using cruelty to maintain power, he talks of saying one thing in public and doing something else in private. He talks about breaking the law when it is expedient and dividing opponents when necessary.

This is not an attempt to describe ideal political conditions, but rather to reveal the harsh truth...

Voice

If I were to value all the things in the world in order of preference, I would say that once you take care of the basic things, the most important thing for any human is their voice. What I mean is their ability to communicate their ideas and have others consider their ideas. I think we all take for granted this concept, because it is so easy to express an opinion and it is easy to have one's opinion lost to all the other noise out there. Add to all this the very fact that the world is just t...

The Great American Echo Chamber

In the past week there was a major news story where a prominent professional football player was shown on a leaked video tape to have slapped his girlfriend, now wife, in an elevator and then she fell unconscious and he dragged her from the elevator. This is all on video and it is hard to dispute the nature of the violence.
Is it reflective of anything in particular, or is it something on its own that should be left on its own? Is it a private matter or not? It would appear that all of these q...

Modern Art

I came across this video:


I think the video makes some important points, when looking at modern art, especially in comparison to classical art of the past, it leaves the viewer wanting. It is a general statement, there are obviously exceptions to the rule. One can draw a number of conclusions from this: maybe culture today is relativistic, as the guy points out, or maybe we are just more superficial and lazy? Or maybe modern art is really not that good and future historians will take note of t...

The Artist II

We were older now, sitting together. There was a venue in a park, and all I remember about the day was everything was unplanned. It was a weekend and I did not have a consistent routine that I held to. On this day, I decided to goto the park and it happened to be that there was a festival taking place and the Artist was there, meandering. 
I noticed him, but he failed to take sight of me. He was alone at a booth, selling wares. I approached and offered my hand, and at this point he took r...

Xenophon: Hiero

This is from the end of Hiero:

The end will be, you shall not be loved alone, but passionately adored, by human beings. You will not need to woo the fair but to endure the enforcement of their loving suit. 

You shall not know what fear is for yourself; you shall transfer it to the hearts of others, fearing lest some evil overtake you. You will have about you faithful lieges, willing subjects, nimble servitors. You shall behold how, as a matter of free choice, they will display a providenti...

Rousseau: The Citizen

From the Emile:

The Spartan Pedaretes presented himself for admission to the council of the Three Hundred and was rejected; he went away rejoicing that there were three hundred Spartans better than himself. I suppose he was in earnest; there is no reason to doubt it. That was a citizen. 

A Spartan mother had five sons with the army. A Helot arrived; trembling she asked his news. "Your five sons are slain." "Vile slave, was that what I asked thee?" "We have won the victory." She hastened to...

Bed of Procrustes

I recently read a book called The Bed of Procrustes . The book brought up the Ancient Greek story about Procrustes and his bed. It is not an idea that you hear a lot about, but it is probably one of the few germane concepts that should be taught and retaught. We all have a very strong tendency to take the world and fit it into our Procrustean beds. It is a kind of tyranny of thought, but it goes beyond that. When someone has gained power and has not been properly educated or there does not exi...