Hanyi #10 - How to Attain Power
How to attain power? This question has been raised constantly throughout the course of history, as kingdoms and nations institute countless bloody wars and conflicts over one simple desire: power.
Safe to say, this question, if can be perfectly answered, will guarantee the answerer influence and jewels to any extent they wish.
Consequently, throughout centuries across the world, this question has raised numerous answerers trying to accomplish such a task. From Renaissance philosopher Machiavelli to Chinese general Sun Tzu, the question of attaining power has struck the mind of ingenious individuals endlessly, almost creating a fervor of desire surrounding this seemingly chimerical task.
Fairly recently (when compared to the 500 year age of Machiavelli and centuries of Sun Tzu), one such author has attempted to again visit this eternal question. American author Robert Greene, committed to defining the strategies of power and seduction, has since published numerous writings with all of them surrounding such topics. Among them, of which is his most popular and an NYT Bestseller, is The 48 Laws of Power.
Building on from the teachings of Machiavelli's The Prince, Sun Tzu's The Art of War, and along with close analysis of historical paradigms, Greene's 48 Laws of Power delivers exactly what is promised: the definitive forty-eight laws of power.
Upon reading this book, the audience can easily be shocked by the straightforwardness and almost immoral ideals described by Greene, as he advocates for his reader to gain power at any cost necessary. Among the list of his laws, certain ones perfectly depict his unscrupulous commandments: "Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit" (Law #7), "Pose as a friend, work as a spy" (Law #14), "Keep others in suspended terror" (Law #17).
From Greene's laws, it is clear he insinuates the renunciation of basic human morals is necessary in order to summit the power pyramid of society. However, this lack of consciousness regarding such laws of powers has consequently raised another question: is it really worth the complete abandonment of morals to attain such a dream of power?
| (Left: Robert Greene [looks scary]. Right: His book, supposedly holding the chimerical laws of power) (businessinsider.com) |
Hey Hanyi! The morals behind power have definitely been a controversial topic, especially in political environments, where the race for power and influence is essentially what gives you more power. The methods to gain power described in Greene’s book are undoubtedly effective, and have been used, especially to boost one’s image. This, of course, is a growing concern because too much power allows one to manipulate and gain total control, which would be devastating to society as a whole. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI think Greene is correct, from the people we’ve seen reaching statuses of power, most of them have shown a consistent disregard for morality. This lends itself to the question, do the corrupt gain power or does power corrupt? I cannot think of anyone who has power or wealth at an exorbitant level, who is not corrupt. I don’t particularly like to say that it is impossible to gain power and wealth morally because I would like to think that we do not have to choose between being moral and good or being able to sustain ourselves, but I do think that there is a degree of power and wealth that can only be attained by the morally corrupt.
ReplyDeleteHey Hanyi! Your blog leaves one rather important question unanswered that I feel like is important: what exactly are you defining as power? Are you defining power as power over others, power over land, power over trade etc.? Each one of these definitions would vastly change the answers to your questions since the path to attaining these mightn’t be as immoral as Greene’s power path. That aside, I find that the things you mention sound about right. After all, power is all about appearing bigger to others than they see the average person. By doing the things that you have described you attain power via terror or simple manipulation. Morality rarely comes into it since power is always going to be filled and power struggles are the closest to natural selection that modern day humans will face.
ReplyDeleteHanyi, what a unique read. What Greene says in his book though it is shocking and to digest it is the truth. Let us be honest, if we meet someone with a lot of power and sway in society there will at least be a small part of us wanting to take advantage of that person. The thing Greene does differently is actually say and admit to those actions. It is hard to grow in America or anywhere as a matter of fact without the right connections. Even going to the best schools and getting the best can take you so far but it is the connections that you have built that help you go up in society.
ReplyDeleteHi Hanyi, it's really interesting how far people are willing to go for power. Power can coexist with morals, but it is rare to see. The quickest way to attain the most power would to be do sacrifice some morality. Most of the people in power throughout history and today all gain and maintain their power through immoral means. Power when used right can be very good, but most of the time the people who are granted power use it for their gains and attain it with the sacrifice of morals.
ReplyDeleteHi Hanyi! The concept of Greene's book is very interesting, and it is hard to think of the abstract concept of power as being able to be defined by a certain number of laws. However, not all power is corruptive (although this is pretty rare), and I think that it can exist without the complete sacrifice of morals. But I do feel that there is only a certain threshold to which someone can have power without being corrupted by it, and a certain extent to the amount of power someone can have without giving up their morals. When thinking of the power that billionaires have, it is definitely not possible to naturally earn that much money without distorting it or giving up morals in some way.
ReplyDeleteHi Hanyi! I never knew there were instruction menus and laws that teach people how to gain power, but I definitely think that jolting down all the principles of acquiring power into a simple instruction is an interesting approach. I wonder if books like Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power are effective to readers who followed Greene's laws to gain power. I was definitely suppressed how the laws mentioned in Greene’s book were so morally controversial with the theme of betrayal and thievery. I read an excerpt of Machiavelli’s The Prince in AP European History lost year and it also shared the similar trend of going against one's morals for power. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Hanyi, I do agree with Robert Greene that it is effective to gain power from being corrupt and inflicting fear upon those around you, however, in The Prince, Machiavelli also discusses how being a generous and respectful person can be another efficient way to become powerful. In your opinion, which way do you think is more effective and long-lasting?
ReplyDeleteHey Hanyi, people often like to take the convenient route in life and probably the fastest way to gain a lot of power has something to do with abandoning your morals. Greene’s idea promotes living a paranoid life in order to gain power where your every move should be calculated and you can’t trust anyone. This makes the efforts to try to gain power seem undesirable, yet it is an efficient way to gain more control which I can see why people would choose this course of action. Thank you for sharing!
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