Life for Tony Soprano and his crew certainly has its ups and downs. Of course, there is always plenty of money to be made and enough power to go around, but there are also times when certain "unpleasant" measures must be taken. Whether it's murder or intimidation, sometimes these "unpleasant" courses of action must be taken to either simply maintain or, in many cases, advance one's position in the criminal underworld.
Tony, the boss of the crime family, keeps his men in line through swift punishment and fear. Any man who fails to pay his dues to the boss or behaves in such a way against the ways of the family is met with a punishment so severe that he will not dare step out of line again. Throughout the series, Tony resorts to murder many, many times to eliminate threats to his power. This reputation for force and brutality made many of his men fearful of him, even though many of them were often disgruntled with his selfishness and leadership decisions. There were certainly enough men frustrated with Tony's leadership to successfully overthrow him; however, the instilled fear often kept this seemingly likely and ever present overthrow from ever taking place.
The mindset of seemingly untouchable Tony Soprano would have most definitely been applauded by Niccolo Machiavelli, the 15th century Italian political philosopher and author of The Prince. Machiavelli states that the successful prince or ruler is "he who considers it necessary to secure himself in his new principality, to win friends, to overcome either by force or fraud, to make himself beloved or feared by the people, to be followed and revered by the soldiers, to exterminate those who have power or reason to hurt him, to change the old order of things for new, to be severe and gracious, magnanimous and liberal, to destroy a disloyal soldiery and to create new, to maintain friendship with kings and princes in such a way that they must help him with zeal and offend him with caution." It is clear that the "code" which Machiavelli claims makes a successful prince or ruler is the "code" to which Tony Soprano adheres exactly, and it has indeed made an effective boss.
Considering the example of Tony Soprano, does this mean that Machiavelli was accurate in saying that to be a successful ruler of any kind, one must take a "whatever it takes" attitude? Or is it still possible to be a benevolent ruler and still successfully hold on to your power?
Considering the example of Tony Soprano, does this mean that Machiavelli was accurate in saying that to be a successful ruler of any kind, one must take a "whatever it takes" attitude? Or is it still possible to be a benevolent ruler and still successfully hold on to your power?
Nicolas-
ReplyDeleteFirst, I just want to point out to you that I am a big fan of The Soprano’s and it was a pleasure to read this connection that you found. I too agree the Tony is a prime example of what Machiavelli would call a successful “prince” or leader. When reading the excerpt: “he who considers it necessary to secure himself in his new principality, to win friends, to overcome either by force or fraud, to make himself beloved or feared by the people, to be followed and revered by the soldiers, to exterminate those who have power or reason to hurt him, to change the old order of things for new, to be severe and gracious, magnanimous and liberal, to destroy a disloyal soldiery and to create new, to maintain friendship with kings and princes in such a way that they must help him with zeal and offend him with caution” I thought of every incident in the series where Tony had done at least one of the listed actions. Tony is the epitome of a Machiavellian prince and perfectly follows the “code” that keeps Tony’s mob family together… Tony Soprano is the perfect representation of the “whatever it takes” attitude. But I am still unsure if it is possible to be a benevolent ruler and still successfully hold on to your power?
I am so happy that you made this connection between Machiavelli and the Sopranos… you have inspired me to think about similar representations of Machiavelli’s Prince in other films and shows.
I do believe that it is possible to be a benevolent ruler and still hold on your power but it completely depends on the group you are ruling over. For instance, in the case of leading a military I believe that the soldiers need a strong leader that is not seen as "benevolent." A benevolent leader in this context would not help create a war hardened mindset in these soldiers that is necessary in order to be successful. Additionally, in the example you are giving with the Sopranos, what if Tony Soprano were benevolent? The problem with this, I feel, is that you are always taking the chance that someone could easily overtake you in the case that you try to rule benevolently. In other words, there is always likely going to be at least one person who wants to assume your position, who wants to have all the power. This is why Machiavelli, and Tony Soprano, recognize it is necessary to instill fear in those you rule over. The reason for this is because it rules out, or at least heavily diminishes, the possibility that anyone will speak out against you because they fear punishment from doing so. In order to make sure that not even one person tries to overtake your power, it is necessary to make sure that you as the ruler place a unilateral fear in the hearts of those you rule over. If this is not done it leaves open the possibility that someone will think you are not ruthless enough to punish them if they attack you. This will create a situation in which the ruler can be walked all over and easily replaced. In conclusion, I would say the only way that a ruler could be benevolent and still rule is if he or she is leading a completely peaceful group of people. Otherwise, if you are going to become a political leader, or any leader which involves immoral actions, you better be willing to be seen as dangerous.
ReplyDeleteMachiavelli says, "Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with. "
ReplyDeleteI am not familiar with The Sopranos, but it seems like Tony may not be following what Machiavelli says as exactly as you think. You made it sound like every time Tony needs to solve a problem, he deals with it with violence. Is that because there's no better alternative? I find that hard to believe. Machiavelli states very clearly that when a leader instills too much fear in his followers, that he can no longer rely on them. Murder is a last resort for Machiavelli.
Maybe Tony needs to be nicer, and then he won't need to fear keep down a revolution, but instead he will earn the respect of those beneath him. Again, I've never seen this series, so let me know if I'm mistaken.