The dates of Machiavelli’s life are significant: He was born in the year Lorenzo “the magnificent” succeeded his father as ruler of Florence and died in the year the Medici were again expelled and when the Emperor Charles V sacked Rome.
Anyone who does not own a copy of the work can easily get one online from many sources including gutenberg.org. It is a short book, which can be read in the matter of a few hours. We’ll take a few weeks.
In the off chance that this screed might be read by people who do not already know the score, I ask such imaginary readers to imagine a visit from Jefferson or Twain or Mencken or even some reasonable politician like Robert Taft or Sam Ervin, who asks us to take him on a guided tour of these United States. We might begin their tour by taking them to see New York or San Francisco or Chicago or Portland, in fact to any major city in to witness the complete breakdown of law and order, sanitation, and public decency.
A lot of my friends, wife included, are outraged by the purge trials against Donald Trump. I certainly agree with them that the American legal system is making a flashy display of its contempt for law, confirming the global expression that the US has joined the ranks of the banana republics.
I am reviving our Book of the Month in a less pedantic and exhaustive format. We’ll put up a list of books in the probable order in which we shall take them up. I’ll post an introduction. We can have as much or little commentary as readers wish to provide, though I do ask everyone who is reading one of the books to put up a brief comment to that effect.
A few weeks ago, I posted a brief and trivial comment on pizza, which set off a longer discussion that ended up in private messaging on the question of artificial intelligence. I have edited, revised, condensed. I begin with the initial post.
False world, good night! since thou hast brought
That hour upon my morn of age;
Henceforth I quit thee from my thought,
My part is ended on thy stage.
It’s that time again: Election USA. As we enter the new election cycle, we can look forward to the customary effusions of democratic rhetoric. The socialists known as Democrats, while deploring the American past, will tell us, in language hallowed by the Clintons and Obamas, that we have moved beyond patriarchy, superstition, and the irrational preference for personal liberty—the prejudices of the poor savages who cling to their guns and religion.
Pisa helped the maritime cities in Southern Italy to resist Saracen attacks. As early as 828 Pisan vessels were raiding North Africa and in 871 they defended Salerno Her ships fought them in Calabria in the 10th century and drove the infidels out of Reggio in Calabria.
The death of Simpson brought it all back for a moment, and I recall how uncomfortable felt when I gave people my “take” on the murders. Now it is your turn.
