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Rein, Becky Mrs. Verenkoff English 2H, Period 4 15 November 2011 The Pitfalls of Pragmatism: Why Machiavelli Was Wrong About Government If you were given a choice between splitting up a church and being executed, which would you choose? Many people would pragmatically select the former, but the idealistic Sir Thomas More refused to declare King Henry VIII the head of the Church of England for a mere divorce. More believed in following his own moral compass no matter what the circumstances, unlike Niccolo Machiavelli, who thought that ethics should be cast aside to advance the state. More’s surprising decision was documented in Robert Bolt’s play A Man for All Seasons. More asserts, “When statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties... they lead their country by a short route to chaos” (13). Thomas More was entirely correct, for history’s worst leaders have also been the most unethical. England’s Henry VIII, the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin, and North Korea’s Kim Jong-il cast aside all morals, causing disasters in their countries. For a man described as “a most accomplished Prince” (qtd. in Hanson) by the Venetian diplomat Pasqualigo, England’s King Henry VIII was most unaccomplished in his policies. First, Henry was terrible at managing finances. His father, King Henry VII, left a sizable surplus in the treasury, but the young king depleted it quickly through frivolous wars. He invaded France in 1544, but despite the size of his army and the power of his navy, the attack was unsuccessful and cost him £1 million (“Henry VIII, Foreign Policy, Economics, and Ireland”), or a staggering £300 million today (“Currency Converter”). In addition to destroying relations with France, Henry VII angered the Vatican when he demanded that the Pope annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, for she could not bear him a son. When Pope Clement VII refused, he simply broke away from the Catholic Church and in true Machiavellian fashion declared himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England in 1534. To secure his authority, Henry destroyed monasteries and killed objectors, including his good friend Sir Thomas More (Palmer 88). Although he tried to unify his country, his short-sighted policies would later split England. Because he focused much of his energy on foreign policy, Henry often neglected domestic problems. Inflation was rampant in sixteenth-century England because of the reoccurring bubonic plague. Henry impolitically raised taxes to pay for his war. His actions, however, only compounded England’s economic troubles (“The Economic and Social Framework 1500-1600”). However, Henry’s decision to form the Church of England would prove even more catastrophic. Before the religious division, there was little Reformation activity in England compared to the rest of Continental Europe. Nonetheless, the division of the Catholic Church led to a bitter and often violent feud amongst the English populace. When Henry’s Catholic daughter, Mary I, took the throne in 1553, she attempted to reinstate Catholicism as England’s dominant religion. During her brief reign that lasted until 1558, she burned more than three hundred Protestants at the stake, including Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, earning her the nickname “Bloody Mary” (Lindbuchler). As shown by his country’s disunity, Henry’s imprudence and egoism ultimately tore apart the social fabric of England. Many pragmatic dictators were not hereditary monarchs, including Joseph Stalin, one of the most feared leaders in history. Although he began his life as an idealistic Communist, his goal later in life was simply the consolidation of power. He began his political career as editor of the Pravda, but he befriended Vladimir Lenin and quickly rose through the ranks of the Bolshevik army. When Lenin died in 1924, Leon Trotsky was the clear choice for leader of the Communist Party. However, in true Machiavellian fashion, Stalin expelled him from the Party and exiled him from the USSR, and would later order his murder (Palmer 749). In order to silence further opposition, he used the NKVD, or secret police, to terrorize the population of the Soviet Union. During the Great Purge of 1936 to 1937, Stalin had opponents in the Communist Party, the bourgeoisie, the Red Army, and finally the NKVD itself, murdered (“The Great Purge”). In addition, he introduced his economic Five-Year Plans, which included collectivization of agriculture and industrial modernization (Palmer 752). These ruling tactics, however, proved disastrous for the USSR. The Soviet Union under Stalin was a miserable place. By using the secret police to murder his enemies, he achieved absolute power and instilled a fearful atmosphere throughout the country. Anyone who was so much suspected of dissent would be sent to the gulags, or forced labor camps. The harsh conditions killed about ten percent of prisoners per year, most of whom were never released. Although the government did not keep precise records of the death toll, Western scholars estimate that some fifteen to thirty million people were killed in Soviet prisons (“Gulag”). In addition, the Soviet Union saw a steep decline in economic conditions under Stalin’s rule. While Stalin’s attempts to increase industrial output were successful, its production standards were still outstripped by those of the United States, France, Britain, Germany, and Japan (Palmer 755). Collective farms, however, were a complete failure. Food production failed to keep up with population growth, which resulted in a horrible Ukrainian famine that lasted from 1932 to 1933, killing over six million people (McKay 961). Stalin later confessed to Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference agricultural collectivization cost about ten million lives in total (McKay 960). Said a leading historian of the dictator, “The number dying in Stalin’s war against the peasants was higher than the total deaths of all the countries in World War I” (qtd. in McKay 960). In all, Joseph Stalin’s Machiavellian policies caused the deaths of twenty-five to forty million people, making him one of the worst mass murderers in human history. Unfortunately, today’s world has its fair share of pragmatic dictators. Kim Jong-il leads the “hermit kingdom” (Myers) of North Korea, a country infamous for its human rights abuses. Kim and the ruling authority control all aspects of life, most notably the economy. The Communist system, however, has left North Korea destitute. Because of a policy of self-reliance, or juche, the country rarely imports goods for its citizens (“North Korea”). Kim’s regime is also the most censored in the world, as it does not allow internet access to its citizens and the only legal press is state-owned. Freedom of speech is non-existent, and those who criticize Kim or the government are harshly punished (“Frontiers of Censorship”). As Machiavelli advised, he is always prepared for war. With over seven million reserve soldiers and nuclear missiles with a range of up to 2400 miles, North Korea has one of the most formidable armies in the world (Lister). Sadly, Kim’s absolute power comes at the expense of his people. Because they are crushed by the iron fist of Kim Jong-il, the citizens of North Korea live in pain and fear. Anyone who dares to question the government is whisked away to one of its many political prisons, which hold more than 200,000 total dissidents and their relatives. Many prisoners are tortured, starved, or even executed (Branigan). Alas, hunger is endemic throughout the country. In the 1990s, up to one million citizens were killed by a famine, and another one may be approaching soon. This crisis is not caused by a natural disaster, but by political and economic mismanagement. While allowing his country to starve, Kim Jong-il indulges in luxury goods such as “Moreschi shoes... Martell Cognac... and the Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard limousine” (Frank). Because the government devotes so much of its resources to building and maintaining its military, it can do almost nothing to alleviate the hunger of its people. North Korea has been reluctant to request international aid as a result of its juche policy. The countries that give do so wearily, for they fear that if Kim accepts the food they offer, he will be able to divert more funds to the military (“North Korea Hunger”). Kim Jong-il has driven North Korea into desperation with his paranoid, selfish policies, and he makes the people endure unimaginable misery. Machiavelli believed that ethics must be abandoned for the sake of the state, but he failed to understand that a moral leader is the only kind that will put the needs of the state before his own desires. While Henry VII, Joseph Stalin, and Kim Jong-il enriched themselves, their people suffered. A statesman must lead by example, too: both for his ministers and the citizens. When people see their leaders acting unethically, they will follow, and the moral fiber of the nation will unravel. Although Thomas More was not able to prevent the division of the Church, he set an example for the world, and his unwavering beliefs truly made him a man for all seasons.
Works Cited Branigan, Tania. “North Korea Holds 200,000 Political Prisoners, Says Amnesty.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 4 May 2010. Web. 15 November 2011. “Currency Converter.” The National Archives. The National Archives. N.d. Web. 15 November 2011. “The Economic and Social Framework 1500-1600.” Dartford Town Archive. Dartford Town Archive. N.d. Web. 15 November 2011. Frank, Robert. “Kim Jong-Il’s Favorite Luxury Brands.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones and Company, Inc., 20 August 2010. Web. 15 November 2011. “Frontiers of Censorship.” Reporters Without Borders. Reporters Without Borders, October 2011. Web. 15 November 2011. “The Great Purge.” Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Educational. N.d. Web. 13 November 2011. "Gulag." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 13 November 2011. “Henry VIII, Foreign Policy, Economics, and Ireland.” William Howard School. William Howard School. N.d. Web. 15 November 2011. Hanson, Marilee. “King Henry VIII: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources.” EnglishHistory.net. EnglishHistory.net, 1997. Web. 14 November 2011. Lister, Tim. “North Korea's Military Aging but Sizable.” CNN. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc, 24 November 2010. Web. 15 November 2011. Lindbuchler, Ryan. “Queen ‘Bloody’ Mary I.” History Department, King’s College. King’s College, 2005. Web. 15 November 2011. Myers, B.R. “Poster Children of the Hermit Kingdom.” Foreign Policy. Foreign Policy Magazine, 22 February 2010. Web. 15 November 2011. McKay, et al. A History of Western Civilization. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print. “North Korea.” U. S. Department of State. U. S. Department of State, 31 October 2011. Web. 15 November 2011. “North Korea Hunger.” AlertNet. Thomson Reuters Foundation, 19 July 2011. Web. 15 November 2011. Palmer, R. R., et al. A History of the Modern World. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Print. |
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