Analysis of Machiavelli, Jefferson, and Nietzsche 's View of Government

Governments exist everywhere in the world. Every group of people needs some kind of order to prevent chaos. Governments serve a purpose of assisting the lives of its people. On the other hand, governments can control the lives of its people, essentially destroying their lives and individuality. Also, different types of governments exist including monarchies and democracies. In a monarchy, a king rules and in a democracy the people make up the governmental body. Of the many issues addressed over the semester including government, affluence, religion, education, thought, etc., the thoughts of Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Jefferson, and Friedrich Nietzsche have influenced me most of all about government.

Power is a major issue in any government and Machiavelli, Jefferson, and Nietzsche all described the balancing of power. Machiavelli described a prince's role and how he must lead his people. He said, "It is necessary for a prince who wishes to maintain his position to learn how to not be good, and to use this knowledge or not use it according to necessity" (40). A prince has full control over his people, but if a prince becomes corrupted with his power, the people will conspire against him. Jefferson described a similar balance. Jefferson spoke of a tyrant (King George III) and the Thirteen Colonies of the United States. King George ruled from another land - Great Britain, who tried to control every aspect of the Colonist's lives.

The Declaration of Independence served the purpose of putting power in the hands of the Colonies and no longer allowing the King to rule from afar. Like Jefferson, Nietzsche spoke of another type of balance, but in terms of religion, which one can apply to government and everyday life. Nietzsche spoke of the two basic forces - Apollonianism and Dionysianism. Apollonianism is controlled by intellectuality and Dionysianism by hysteria. Their thoughts made me realize the importance of the balance of power in any government. They reinforced my idea about how governments must properly balance power in order to run smoothly. All three scholars gave examples of the consequences of an imbalance - chaos. Machiavelli spoke of a prince's struggle to maintain power, Jefferson spoke of the Colonists maintaining their power and Nietzsche spoke of a balance of power. Prevalent in Governments, Apollonianism and Dionysianism create a balance similar to yin and yang, and neither is superior to another.

Governments have the structure of a superior power and an inferior power. Governments stand above the people, deeming the government superior and the people inferior. Tyranny creates such a hierarchy to the extreme. The concept of a tyranny, means one individual sits above all others, with total control over those of him below. Tyrants have destroyed people's lives since the dawn of time, which makes me realize the significance of a single ruler. A tyranny also teaches me the idea of a government becoming too empowered over its people. A government is present mainly to assist and run the lives of its people, but only to a certain extent.

A government should not control every aspect of its people's lives including quartering troops in their homes, unjustly imprisoning its people, or not allowing its people to go out doors. The people on the other hand have the duty of maintaining or destroying their government. Jefferson said, in response to overthrowing a bad government, "It is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government" (79). Jefferson believes people have the duty to overthrow a government when a ruler limits every opportunity of its people, crushes its people's lives and destroys their freedom.

In any government people value their freedom. Freedom means to live free of restrictions. A tyrant limits every aspect of a person's life. Can you imagine living in a place where one person tells you what to do, how to think, when to eat, or even who you can marry? Freedom is one of the major issues in any government. I personally appreciate freedom more, here in the United States, especially after the three noted scholars brought to my attention their various insights about freedom. The thoughts of Machiavelli, Jefferson and Nietzsche forced me to acknowledge the actual amount of freedom I have here in the United States. For example I can vote, I can choose whom I marry, whether to work or attend school, or say what I want without repercussion. More importantly, people will fight and even die just to have their freedom. Prior to the Civil War (1861-1865) in the United States and the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Lincoln, black people served as slaves in the south. Black men, women and children worked for white men.

Black men worked in cotton fields and the women worked in their owner's house as maids. These people received no payment for their services, for they worked because their owners forced them to. Punishment for not following a master's orders included lynching and general beatings. Whites, living in the South, controlled every aspect of a black person's life. In slavery, people lack freedom and resent their owners. "As soon as the war [Civil War] ended, hundreds of thousands of them - young and old, [ . . . ] left the plantations in search of a new life in freedom" (Brinkley 444). Like the slaves, the Colonists fought for their freedom from their oppressor, King George III. Jefferson felt in freedom, "They [people] have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which [ . . . ] may of right do" (81). They too came out of oppression through a struggle.

Machiavelli, Jefferson, and Nietzsche all had something to say about the issue of oppression. Oppression is not a pleasant matter for anyone who lives by the word of another. Machiavelli said, "Above all other things a prince must guard himself against being despised and hated [ . . . ]" (43). Machiavelli added, "He should not stray from the good, but he should know how to enter into the evil when necessity commands" (47). According to Machiavelli a prince must control his people and not worry about their opinion of him. However, if a prince becomes corrupted with power and oppresses his people, the people have the power to overthrow him. Jefferson, with the assistance of scholars, wrote The Declaration of Independence to end a tyrant's rule over the Colonists. Should a government ever fail, Jefferson said, "Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it [oppression], and to institute a new Government [ . . . ]" (78). People don't always have to face oppression, and the Colonists showed anyone should fight against oppression.

Jefferson said oppression essentially forces people to establish a new government. Thus, good will come from the destruction of any form of oppression. Nietzsche in his describing of Apollonianism and Dionysianism wrote about the "Mystical experience of the collective" (739). People feel the "mystical experience" either positively or negatively. If a government oppresses its people, the people as a whole feel miserable, but if the oppression is defeated the people feel the "mystical experience" of content. Nietzsche also described the oppression felt by mortals from their gods. The gods had the ability to cut short any person's life, which constantly threatened their existence and made them feel the burden of oppression. How each scholar addressed the issue of oppression made me stop and think about how a government can hurt its people. They brought to my attention the negative side to any government. A government should not receive recognition for its mistreatment of its people, but for its great society. Once oppression is resolved peace steps forth.

Peace occurs when people have freedom or do not face a tyrannical ruler. In times of peace people feel content and have no worries. Nietzsche described peace in terms of Apollonianism and Dionysianism working together. Nietzsche wrote, "Apollo