“The chief foundations on which all states rest, whether
they are new, old, or mixed, are good laws and good arms. And since there
cannot be good laws where there are not good arms, and where there are good
arms there are bound to be good laws, I shall set aside the topic of laws and
talk about arms.” (The Prince pg. 34)
Well, Machiavelli certainly knew how to make something sound
good on first glance. There are many good examples where this works. Take our
own Armed Forces, for example. Even though our law isn’t perfect, it is still
very good and we also have “good arms”. But it didn’t always start that way.
When our country made a stand for itself, compared to England our “arms” were
not the best, yet we were able to break apart and create our own government. This
overrides Machiavelli’s statement that “there cannot be good laws where there
are not good arms.”
Along with that, having “good arms” most definitely does not
mean “there are bound to be good laws.” If we take a glance down history, we
can see many wars that have occurred or that have almost occurred where there
was “good arms” galore on both side. Yet, we would say that the laws of Russia
were not “good” during the Cold War, the laws of the Middle East are not “good”
and the laws of North Korea are not “good”. There are also plenty of areas with
good “arms” which we would consider having bad laws. But then you have to think about what “good
law” is. We have been talking about perspective and law is one of those topics
that could be very different to the eye of the beholder, so to speak. People
whom we think have bad laws could very likely believe that we are the ones with
bad laws, and that could spur a whole other discussion….
So does having a strong military presence with good weaponry
always means there are good laws present ? I would have to say no because of
examples of the past and examples that are fairly current. I will say though, Machiavelli was right when he later talked
about how having a good military can help in position. It definitely helps, and
I by no means want to put down military because I believe the United States
Armed Forces do an incredible job and give up so much for our country. I am a proud supporter of our troops and men
like my brother-in-law that serve the United States and create an environment
where “good law” can take place.
