Issues Under Fire: Barack Obama, The Machiavellian?

 

Issues Under Fire: Barack Obama, The Machiavellian? 

In our continuous effort to understand and share with others how the world really works, today's post will shed light on why the world works the way it works. In order to do that, we'd like to introduce you to Niccolo Machiavelli, a 15th century renaissance historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist and writer. Yeah, he was a really smart guy. But what Machiavelli really became famous for, was his theory, that to be a successful leader, it's okay, even necessary, to be a scum bag from time to time. Let us explain.

Niccolo Machiavelli, often considered the founder of modern political science wrote The Prince, whereupon his bottom line is thus: "The Ends Justifies the Means", no matter what the means are. According to Machiavelli, lying, cheating, stealing and even the killing of innocents to achieve one's goals are all acceptable behaviors of effective leadership. In Machiavelli's world, good guys finish last. And since we're clearly living in a Machiavellian age, we couldn't help noticing how Machiavellianism is actually standard operating procedure for Presidents, Prime Ministers and especially corporate CEO's, all over the world.

When we applied the concept of Machiavellianism to President Obama's leadership style, we were forced to draw some interesting conclusions. As president of the Unites States, charged with protecting the nation and its global interests from enemies both foreign and domestic, Barack Obama may have begun his administration with good intentions, but that all changed when he received his first top secret intelligence briefing. With all the shit an American president must do to maintain the nation's empire status, concepts like honesty, transparency, privacy, civil and human rights become expectations to manage and nothing more.

When Edward Snowden told the world the United States' National Security Agency was spying on the entire planet, Barack Obama's initial response was less than truthful to say the least. "We would never spy on our friends" he said. "We would never read your e-mails, text or listen to your phone conversations" he said. "We're only focusing on the Bad Guys" he said. Yet as President Obama stood before cameras telling all those bald-faced lies, he was simultaneously doing everything he could to locate, apprehend and drag Snowden's ass back to the United States to be silenced, once and for all. 

In 2009, when the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award President Obama the nobel peace prize for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples, he'd been in office less than ten months. Perhaps, it was his June 4th "A new Beginning" speech in Cairo that gave the world hope. But that hope quickly turned to horror when President Obama suddenly became America's top drone assassin in his efforts to combat international terrorism. Even when he faced harsh criticism for mounting collateral damage, President Obama remained committed to the controversial policy. One simply can't ignore the presence of Machiavelli's The Ends Justifies the Means philosophy being employed here.

When President Obama retires for the day, if he has any semblance of a conscience, heart or soul, he must have the capacity to set all those things aside when contemplating his foreign policy concerning Syria. How else could he sleep at night knowing 500,000 people have lost their lives, with millions more displaced in refugee camps without a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. And all because of his insisting President Bashar al-Assad must go. Unfortunately, Syria's president must have read Machiavelli too, because we can see the death toll surpassing a million without Assad even thinking about calling it quits. Sadly, this is what happens when one Machiavellian practitioner meets another.

By definition, Machiavellianism is the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct. According to Wikipedia, in modern psychology, Machiavellianism is one of the dark triad personalties, characterized by a duplicitous interpersonal style, a cynical disregard for morality and a focus on self-interest and personal gain. Narcissism being another, is characterized by grandiosity, pride, egotism and a lack of empathy. And lastly, but hardly least, is psychopathy, characterized by enduring antisocial behavior, impulsivity, selfishness and remorselessness. BTW, if you don't see these dark triad personality types glaringly exhibited by both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, you've not been paying attention.

Bottom line: While we're not ready to suggest President Obama eagerly embraced Machiavelli's philosophy, shown a displayed predisposition for narcissism or psychopathy, we are prepared to suggest, Barack Obama has proven he's capable of doing whatever he has to do, to get whatever he needs to get done. No matter what. Barack Obama may be a Cool Guy, but a Nice Guy, he ain't. (Tomorrow we deal with Machiavellians in the workplace.)

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