<< Principles, be they ethical or philosophical, necessarily lack
concrete details. Possession of correct principles does not
guarantee correct applications of them . . . . we are not omniscient -- to err is human.
And what are we to conclude from this statement, which skirts platitudinousness?
> Conservatives read Machiavelli as if he were endorsing the crassest
of realpolitik for the sake of realpolitik,
Probably wrongly.
> as Justin accuses me for
doing. This conservative realpolitik, however, is the farthest from
what I advocate.
Very good, but now am I unclear about what you do advocate.
> I agree with Justin that "even when realpolitik is
called for, there are limits" . . . . In fact, I go further than
Justin. [I sais Trotsky was right to put down the Krondstadt revolt.] . . .
The
Machiavellian point is that Trotsky may have done what was
politically necessary, but it is vain for Trotsky (or us) to think
that those who died in the Krondstadt rebellion could or would
forgive Trotsky (and us).
Sure, but what is your point?
> For humans are not worms. Reading
Machiavelli thus, I am turning Machiavelli against conservatives'
Machiavelli.
M certainly did not think that the Prince's victims would forgive him. Didn't he advocate killing rather than merely hurting the Prince's enemies?
> I'm afraid that in the course of the Yugoslav civil wars many Western
leftists either retired into private life or preferred "to steer a
middle course which is very harmful" by, for instance, issuing
contradictory statements ("the Serbs must be brought to justice and
punished by 'the international community' but I am a nice pacifist
person and object to NATO bombings, ground forces, and/or economic
sanctions"),
Not me.
> Let us, yes, avoid conservatives' Machiavelli; let us, also, shun the
beautiful soul. (As I said, however, I may overestimate Western
leftists -- they may be simply lazy souls, given the way they are
waiting for the mass media's framing of good and evil with regard to,
for instance, Chechnya.)
>>
So you support the Russian's horrific war in Chechnya?
--jks