Post by Jordan Anderson on Jun 10, 2007 11:48:05 GMT -5
This is just one of the papers that I had to write this year.
Cheating, lying, and stealing is this really how people can keep their power? Or is there a better way? Could being nice help you stay in power longer? For centuries people have thought that the only way they could keep their power was by being ruthless, cruel and spiteful. I think that the standards of behavior for everybody should be nice and honest. If everybody was honest than the world would be a better place.
The standards for a government official today are very poor. They are very secretive and they do anything to try and get a step ahead of another person. If they find something out about somebody usually they will instantly tell somebody who is higher up than them in hopes that they will be promoted. Plus they will make up things to make themselves look better. An example to this is the weapons of mass destruction scare in the Middle East, thus was talked about by George W. Bush. When people went to check things out there they did not find any weapons so far. So people think that it was something that was just made up.
I think that a government official should not follow Machiavelli's method. If they were honest people would have more trust in them. They would be a better person overall since they would not be telling lies. Also if they would not tell lies then people would have a better understanding of what is going. So there would be less misleading information which would make people feel more confident in what was happening.
Business people also have not been honest and in some ways they are as bad as government officials. An example of this is all of the products that say they are better than another one when when they basically are the same. Another example are products that are priced more because they are name brand. There are non name brand products that are cheaper even though they are the same product as the name brand product. The only reason that people are buying the name brand product is because of the name. A certain local store used to have their name brand products ten cents higher than their generic products. Although they have done away with that and now all products are priced the same.
I also agree that business people should not follow the method that Machiavelli established. They also would receive the benefits of it just like a government official would. If they told the truth about how their product really was than they would be able to sell more since their facts would be truthful. If it was not up to par than they would be able to change the product for the better and then they would be able to sell more. Some companies also cheat by saying that their product is good for so many uses when it is only good for half of that number. So if they did not cheat than their chances of getting into trouble would be less since they would not be getting into trouble for cheating.
A member of the clergy is supposed to be devoted to God and yet some of them still perform acts that are not permitted by God. One of these acts is stealing. In North Carolina two of the leaders of the church said that they were going to build a retirement home and that people should contribute money to it. Yet they did not really build it, instead they siphoned the money from the church account and then put that money into their own account. They used it to build a large home for themselves. It was not until later that people found out what they had done and they were later prosecuted.
Like the previous two members of society a member of the clergy should also not follow Machiavelli's method. If a member of the clergy did not steal from the church than the church would have more money. Also they would not be doing something that was not wrong according to God since not stealing is part of the ten commandments. They would not be getting in the news for bad things so people would not start to think bad things about the church.
A high school student is a big example of a person who is following Machiavelli's method when they should not be. Some students will cheat on tests, copy assignments, and sabotage other people's homework. I myself have had notebooks containing answers stolen out of my locker only to have them end up on my desk or on my locker later. Also on other occasions I have been correcting papers and noticed that the person has used the same exact wording as I did.
Students should not follow Machiavelli's method since cheaters do not really get anywhere. After all, if a person is cheating then they are not really learning anything since they are just copying work. Plus the chances are that sooner or later a teacher will catch on and then everything will be over and the person will possibly end up failing the course. Also, cheating will lower the person's image in the teachers eyes since it could raise up the question of have they cheated before this.
In conclusion I think that everybody should be nice, honest and caring. Everybody has something to gain from this and as stated before, cheating will never get a person anywhere. Even if it does help a person get a job then they will have to be stuck with the fact that they had to cheat to get that job. An interesting thing about Machiavelli's method is that he did not use it. So, in a way he was a hypocrite. If everybody did the polar opposite of his advice than their overall quality of life would be better. Finally, there would most likely be less problems in the world.
Cheating, lying, and stealing is this really how people can keep their power? Or is there a better way? Could being nice help you stay in power longer? For centuries people have thought that the only way they could keep their power was by being ruthless, cruel and spiteful. I think that the standards of behavior for everybody should be nice and honest. If everybody was honest than the world would be a better place.
The standards for a government official today are very poor. They are very secretive and they do anything to try and get a step ahead of another person. If they find something out about somebody usually they will instantly tell somebody who is higher up than them in hopes that they will be promoted. Plus they will make up things to make themselves look better. An example to this is the weapons of mass destruction scare in the Middle East, thus was talked about by George W. Bush. When people went to check things out there they did not find any weapons so far. So people think that it was something that was just made up.
I think that a government official should not follow Machiavelli's method. If they were honest people would have more trust in them. They would be a better person overall since they would not be telling lies. Also if they would not tell lies then people would have a better understanding of what is going. So there would be less misleading information which would make people feel more confident in what was happening.
Business people also have not been honest and in some ways they are as bad as government officials. An example of this is all of the products that say they are better than another one when when they basically are the same. Another example are products that are priced more because they are name brand. There are non name brand products that are cheaper even though they are the same product as the name brand product. The only reason that people are buying the name brand product is because of the name. A certain local store used to have their name brand products ten cents higher than their generic products. Although they have done away with that and now all products are priced the same.
I also agree that business people should not follow the method that Machiavelli established. They also would receive the benefits of it just like a government official would. If they told the truth about how their product really was than they would be able to sell more since their facts would be truthful. If it was not up to par than they would be able to change the product for the better and then they would be able to sell more. Some companies also cheat by saying that their product is good for so many uses when it is only good for half of that number. So if they did not cheat than their chances of getting into trouble would be less since they would not be getting into trouble for cheating.
A member of the clergy is supposed to be devoted to God and yet some of them still perform acts that are not permitted by God. One of these acts is stealing. In North Carolina two of the leaders of the church said that they were going to build a retirement home and that people should contribute money to it. Yet they did not really build it, instead they siphoned the money from the church account and then put that money into their own account. They used it to build a large home for themselves. It was not until later that people found out what they had done and they were later prosecuted.
Like the previous two members of society a member of the clergy should also not follow Machiavelli's method. If a member of the clergy did not steal from the church than the church would have more money. Also they would not be doing something that was not wrong according to God since not stealing is part of the ten commandments. They would not be getting in the news for bad things so people would not start to think bad things about the church.
A high school student is a big example of a person who is following Machiavelli's method when they should not be. Some students will cheat on tests, copy assignments, and sabotage other people's homework. I myself have had notebooks containing answers stolen out of my locker only to have them end up on my desk or on my locker later. Also on other occasions I have been correcting papers and noticed that the person has used the same exact wording as I did.
Students should not follow Machiavelli's method since cheaters do not really get anywhere. After all, if a person is cheating then they are not really learning anything since they are just copying work. Plus the chances are that sooner or later a teacher will catch on and then everything will be over and the person will possibly end up failing the course. Also, cheating will lower the person's image in the teachers eyes since it could raise up the question of have they cheated before this.
In conclusion I think that everybody should be nice, honest and caring. Everybody has something to gain from this and as stated before, cheating will never get a person anywhere. Even if it does help a person get a job then they will have to be stuck with the fact that they had to cheat to get that job. An interesting thing about Machiavelli's method is that he did not use it. So, in a way he was a hypocrite. If everybody did the polar opposite of his advice than their overall quality of life would be better. Finally, there would most likely be less problems in the world.
