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1. Tagomago (tagomago@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 12-Dec-2021 09:40:01 UTC Tagomago

   in reply to

   • Doug Webb

   @douginamug The liberal ideal that was about to start (a couple of centuries later) to be dominant intellectually, where this book was so influential. The Middle Ages were fading.

   • Doug Webb (douginamug@mastodon.xyz)'s status on Sunday, 12-Dec-2021 09:40:03 UTC Doug Webb

     Just finished Machiavelli's 'The Prince' (English translation by W. K. Marriott)

     Very absorbing, readable and provocative. Anecdotes from ancient Greece and Persia to personal experiences in ~1500 Italy.

     After involving myself almost exclusively with cooperative organisation, it is nice to read about the logic of power in such a naked way. Significant that he puts a Prince's success on having happy peoples, which depends on prosperity, low-taxing and generally low intervention!