Power-hungry humans don’t start by trying to make lots of money or by trying to make lots of children.
Really? Because in the current day, the most powerful humans appear to be those with the most money, and across history, the most influential humans were those who managed to create the most biological and ideological copies of themselves.
Ezra the Scribe wasn’t exactly a warlord, but he was one of the most influential men in history, since he consolidated the literature that became known as Judaism, thus shaping the entire family of Abrahamic religions as we know them.
“Power == warlording” is, in my opinion, an overly simplistic answer.
Every one may begin a war at his pleasure, but cannot so finish it. A prince, therefore, before engaging in any enterprise should well measure his strength, and govern himself accordingly; and he must be very careful not to deceive himself in the estimate of his strength, which he will assuredly do if he measures it by his money, or by the situation of his country, or the good disposition of his people, unless he has at the same time an armed force of his own. For although the above things will increase his strength, yet they will not give it to him, and of themselves are nothing, and will be of no use without a devoted army. Neither abundance of money nor natural strength of the country will suffice, nor will the loyalty and good will of his subjects endure, for these cannot remain faithful to a prince who is incapable of defending them. Neither mountains nor lakes nor inaccessible places will present any difficulties to an enemy where there is a lack of brave defenders. And money alone, so far from being a means of defence, will only render a prince the more liable to being plundered. There cannot, therefore, be a more erroneous opinion than that money is the sinews of war. This was said by Quintus Curtius in the war between Antipater of Macedon and the king of Sparta, when he tells that want of money obliged the king of Sparta to come to battle, and that he was routed; whilst, if he could have delayed the battle a few days, the news of the death of Alexander would have reached Greece, and in that case he would have remained victor without fighting. But lacking money, and fearing the defection of his army, who were unpaid, he was obliged to try the fortune of battle, and was defeated; and in consequence of this, Quintus Curtius affirms money to be the sinews of war. This opinion is constantly quoted, and is acted upon by princes who are unwise enough to follow it; for relying upon it, they believe that plenty of money is all they require for their defence, never thinking that, if treasure were sufficient to insure victory, Darius would have vanquished Alexander, and the Greeks would have triumphed over the Romans; and, in our day, Duke Charles the Bold would have beaten the Swiss; and, quite recently, the Pope and the Florentines together would have had no difficulty in defeating Francesco Maria, nephew of Pope Julius II., in the war of Urbino. All that we have named were vanquished by those who regarded good troops, and not money, as the sinews of war. Amongst other objects of interest which Crœsus, king of Lydia, showed to Solon of Athens, was his countless treasure; and to the question as to what he thought of his power, Solon replied, “that he did not consider him powerful on that account, because war was made with iron, and not with gold, and that some one might come who had more iron than he, and would take his gold from him.” When after the death of Alexander the Great an immense swarm of Gauls descended into Greece, and thence into Asia, they sent ambassadors to the king of Macedon to treat with him for peace. The king, by way of showing his power, and to dazzle them, displayed before them great quantities of gold and silver; whereupon the ambassadors of the Gauls, who had already as good as signed the treaty, broke off all further negotiations, excited by the intense desire to possess themselves of all this gold; and thus the very treasure which the king had accumulated for his defence brought about his spoliation. The Venetians, a few years ago, having also their treasury full, lost their entire state without their money availing them in the least in their defence.
Because in the current day, the most powerful humans appear to be those with the most money
Certainly doesn’t look like that to me. Obama, Putin, the Chinese Politbureau—none of them are amongst the richest people in the world.
across history, the most influential humans… was one of the most influential men in history
Influential (especially historically) and powerful are very different things.
“Power == warlording” is, in my opinion, an overly simplistic answer.
It’s not an answer, it’s a definition. Remember, we are talking about “power-hungry humans” whose attempts to achieve power tend to end badly. These power-hungry humans do not want to be remembered by history as “influential”, they want POWER—the ability to directly affect and mold things around them right now, within their lifetime.
Certainly doesn’t look like that to me. Obama, Putin, the Chinese Politbureau—none of them are amongst the richest people in the world.
Putin is easily one of the richest in Russia, as are the Chinese Politburo in their country. Obama, frankly, is not a very powerful man at all, but rather than the public-facing servant of the powerful class (note that I said “class”, not “men”, there is no Conspiracy of the Malfoys in a neoliberal capitalist state and there needn’t be one).
Influential (especially historically) and powerful are very different things.
Historical influence? Yeah, ok. Right-now influence versus right-now power? I don’t see the difference.
I don’t think so. “Rich” is defined as having property rights in valuable assets. I don’t think Putin has a great deal of such property rights (granted, he’s not middle-class either). Instead, he can get whatever he wants and that’s not a characteristic of a rich person, it’s a characteristic of a powerful person.
To take an extreme example, was Stalin rich?
But let’s take a look at the five currently-richest men (according to Forbes): Carlos Slim, Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega, Warren Buffet, and Larry Ellison. Are these the most *powerful* men in the world? Color me doubtful.
A lot of money of rich people is hidden via complex off shore accounts and not easily visible for a company like Forbes.
Especially for someone like Putin it’s very hard to know how much money they have. Don’t assume that it’s easy to see power structures by reading newspapers.
Bill Gates might control a smaller amount of resources than Obama, but he can do whatever he wants with them.
Obama is dependend on a lot of people inside his cabinet.
The descendants of Communist China’s so-called Eight Immortals have spawned a new elite class known as the princelings, who are able to amass wealth and exploit opportunities unavailable to most Chinese.
“amass wealth and exploit opportunities unavailable to most Chinese” is not at all the same thing as “amongst the richest people in the world”
You are reading a text that’s carefully written not to make statements that allow for being sued for defamation in the UK.
It’s the kind of story for which inspires cyber attacks on a newspaper.
The context of such an article provides information about how to read such a sentence.
Really? Because in the current day, the most powerful humans appear to be those with the most money, and across history, the most influential humans were those who managed to create the most biological and ideological copies of themselves.
Ezra the Scribe wasn’t exactly a warlord, but he was one of the most influential men in history, since he consolidated the literature that became known as Judaism, thus shaping the entire family of Abrahamic religions as we know them.
“Power == warlording” is, in my opinion, an overly simplistic answer.
-- Niccolò Machiavelli
Certainly doesn’t look like that to me. Obama, Putin, the Chinese Politbureau—none of them are amongst the richest people in the world.
Influential (especially historically) and powerful are very different things.
It’s not an answer, it’s a definition. Remember, we are talking about “power-hungry humans” whose attempts to achieve power tend to end badly. These power-hungry humans do not want to be remembered by history as “influential”, they want POWER—the ability to directly affect and mold things around them right now, within their lifetime.
Putin is easily one of the richest in Russia, as are the Chinese Politburo in their country. Obama, frankly, is not a very powerful man at all, but rather than the public-facing servant of the powerful class (note that I said “class”, not “men”, there is no Conspiracy of the Malfoys in a neoliberal capitalist state and there needn’t be one).
Historical influence? Yeah, ok. Right-now influence versus right-now power? I don’t see the difference.
I don’t think so. “Rich” is defined as having property rights in valuable assets. I don’t think Putin has a great deal of such property rights (granted, he’s not middle-class either). Instead, he can get whatever he wants and that’s not a characteristic of a rich person, it’s a characteristic of a powerful person.
To take an extreme example, was Stalin rich?
But let’s take a look at the five currently-richest men (according to Forbes): Carlos Slim, Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega, Warren Buffet, and Larry Ellison. Are these the most *powerful* men in the world? Color me doubtful.
Well, Carlos Slim seems to have the NYT in his pocket. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
A lot of money of rich people is hidden via complex off shore accounts and not easily visible for a company like Forbes. Especially for someone like Putin it’s very hard to know how much money they have. Don’t assume that it’s easy to see power structures by reading newspapers.
Bill Gates might control a smaller amount of resources than Obama, but he can do whatever he wants with them. Obama is dependend on a lot of people inside his cabinet.
Not according to Bloomberg:
“amass wealth and exploit opportunities unavailable to most Chinese” is not at all the same thing as “amongst the richest people in the world”
You are reading a text that’s carefully written not to make statements that allow for being sued for defamation in the UK. It’s the kind of story for which inspires cyber attacks on a newspaper.
The context of such an article provides information about how to read such a sentence.