Advice from the Devil Himself

“Machiavelli argues in The Prince that political life is divided between fortuna, the unexpected event that must be dealt with, and virtu, not the virtue of the religious -- the virtue of abstinence from sin -- but rather the virtue of the cunning man who knows how to deal with the unexpected. None can deal with fortuna completely, but some can shape and mitigate it. These are the best princes. The worst are simply overwhelmed by the unexpected.”

--a quote I've stolen from StratFor Global Intelligence.

Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince as a complete farce and as a sarcastic stab in the face to Lorenzo De Medici & Family. De Medici came to power in Florence and had Machiavelli imprisoned, tortured and finally exiled. Niccolo wasn't happy about that at all and satirized tyrannical rule by advocating it in it's worst forms.

But, as the centuries passed, people who never understood the joke or the relationship of Machiavelli to the Powers That Be, took this treatise as real and turned it into a philosophy to be praised. Once again, humanity proves itself dumb as a bag of sticks.

I read this when I was in college, a kid basically. I then understood that “Machiavellian” meant to be the biggest, most viscous prick in the room. Once the course was over, I forgot all about Machiavelli; that was until I read the above quote at the head of this page.

I guess one of the reasons The Prince was so touted as the next philosophy back then was that there were gems of knowledge in it. But ideas, like trees in the forest that are scattered and happenstance, don't form up to make a cohesive argument just because they happen to be near one another and are similar. True. But if you take gems lying on the ground for what they are, as they are, you can learn something.

*****

So, now it's past Labor Day and I'm keeping my second promise to myself. I'm hitting the job market again. I haven't written a resume in over 18 years (as I didn't have to as I was always employed) and I find it harder than I thought. You just don't sit down and string together some ACTION words, you have to write a small thesis in order for it to persuade. Also, I love the spellchecker as sending out resumes with mistakes makes you look like an incompetent.

I was given a book mid summer about career choice called Making the Most of Happenstance in Your Life. The gist of the book is that it reminds you that greater powers than you can change your life but also provide options at the same time. The book advises to abandon the idea of the “career path” and make use of any opportunity that may arise in along your way. Also, it's great for slapping your face with reality in each chapter. Sure, you can have a dream job, a dream career, but be ready for Plan #2 if the first doesn't pan out...and Plan #3 if need be too.

You have to learn to dance to the new music as fast as the band changes the tune. If you're lucky, a chance may happen by that you can manipulate and form up, but you have to be awake and quick to spot and then jump on it.  

Another thing I like in the book is this: Do NOT be afraid to fail. It advises you to chase after a particular idea you like and if it smashes against the wall. So.be.it. You'll dust yourself off and readjust your plans.

So, we'll see what out there for the pickin's and hopefully something will provide a very malleable and profitable chance for me. If not, I'll plug along.