And let them know that I am Machiavell,
admired most by those that hate me most,
I count religion but a childish toy,
and hold there is no sin but ignorance.
From the prologue to The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe.
Niccolo Machiavelli is thought of as a cunning, unscrupulous and cynical
manipulator but nothing could be further from the truth. Machiavelli was
simply a realist who saw the world around him as it was and did not mince words when describing it. He despaired of the short - sighted selfishness of those he served and tried to make his readers aware of the baseness of most people's motives.
Blogger Little Nicky Machiavelli is the last direct descendant of Niccolo
Machiavelli but due to the quirky genealogy of the blogosphere can
count Tom Paine, Jeremy Bentham, Beatrice and Sydney Webb, Gandhi and Aneuerin
Bevan amongst his ancestors.
Not much doing today, we are gobsmacked by Blair’s latest “crackdown” on “gang culture.” Given the Home Office’s track record on goofing up this is fraught with potential hazards. For instance if someone is talking about a party or similar you might well ask “who was there?”
And they might well reply “Oh, just the usual gang.”
At which point the boys in blue would burst in and arrest everybody.
