Prince

The book that I really read recently after off work is Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince (君王論).

Many of you may know it is a controversial book, for its advice is pragmatic rather than ethical. It does not tell you how to rule a country in Utopia, but, rather, teaches you how to hold on to power on earth. One of its most famous doctrines is: A ruler should not seek to be loved - he should be feared, but not hated, by its people.

Although the book may seem slightly outdated, much of the theory remains illuminating even when viewed nowadays. For example, there are several type of rulers (principalities), according to how they acquire their power:

1. by hereditary
2. by one's own army and skill
3. by extrinsic force and good luck
4. by wicked actions
5. by democratic procedures (the so-called citizen ruler)

The problem is it is not always obvious how a ruler come to power. Looking at the local political circle and taking James Hacker's analogy, the position and power of a certain person is:

• (what he wants other people to believe happened) by democratic procedure
• (what he believe happened) by his own skill 
• (what happened) by good luck and wicked actions