Here’s my list:
The prince (1513)
Niccolo Machiavelli
- A leader must make difficult decisions.. it’s not his responsibility to be liked or loved, but instead to be feared and respected. That’s not to say he should be cruel, but he must provide stability and governance.
- A prince needs to be both clever and fortunate in order to acquire power
- While it is dangerous for a ruler to be hated by his subjects, too much generosity and benevolence creates the impression that he is weak and lacks authority.
Leviathan (1651)
Thomas Hobbes
- civil war and the brute situation of a state of nature ("the war of all against all") could only be avoided by one strong, undivided government
The wealth of nations (1776)
Adam smith
- Men are driven by self interest, or in economic terms, profit. This is not a bad thing, but a benefit for all. (“Greed is good” anyone?)
- If ppl could make their own economic decisions, they will be more likely to make the decisions that benefit themselves, thus the overall economy benefits.
- People are guided by an “invisible hand” of self interest to employ their capital in a way that benefits the most people.
- Govt acts as a referee, but shouldn’t leave the stadium. Charity and a system of checks and balances still play important roles.
The communist manifesto (1848)
Karl Marx and friedrich Engels
“Workers of the world, unite!”
- get rid of the bourgeoisie; calls for the overthrow of all existing social conditions which have kept the masses enslaved while benefiting only a few fat cats
- The abused must overthrow their abusers; those doing the work need to overthrow their exploiters and enjoy the fruits of their labour.
Mein Kampf (1925)
Adolf hitler
“Don’t be afraid to raise your hand in class”
- it’s ridiculous to have 1,000 different political parties, for a nation to be strong it must be led by one.
- United we stand divided we fall.
- Any weaknesses in creating this strong unified state need to be purged.
- To know how to lead, first you must learn how to obey
“What is to be done?” (1902)
Lenin
- a vanguard of dedicated revolutionaries needs to be developed to spread political ideas among the workers; change isn’t going to happen spontaneously it has to be spearheaded by a special group of fanatical, dedicated followers
- The working class will not spontaneously become political simply by fighting economic battles with employers over wages and working hours (ie fighting over the little things); they need a special group of intellectuals to lead them collectively to initiate major change.
