Machiavelli
To Machiavelli (1469-1527) is often attributed the
statement, “the good end justifies the means”. I am not aware
of him using that phrase, even in Italian, but the idea is the thing.
It is for this reason that Machiavelli is on the catholic Index (list
of banned books). However,
The Prince remains a book that any educated person should
read if they intend to progress in understanding society.
Here is an actual quote from Machiavelli:
“Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good
qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have
them. And I shall dare to say this also, that to have them and always
to observe them is injurious, and that to appear to have them is useful;
to appear merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright, and to be
so, but with a mind so framed that should you require not to be so,
you may be able and know how to change to the opposite.
“And you have to understand this, that a prince, especially a
new one, cannot observe all those things for which men are esteemed,
being often forced, in order to maintain the state, to act contrary
to fidelity, friendship, humanity, and religion. Therefore it is necessary
for him to have a mind ready to turn itself accordingly as the winds
and variations of fortune force it, yet, as I have said above, not to
diverge from the good if he can avoid doing so, but, if compelled, then
to know how to set about it.”
And another:
“[...] a prince wishing to keep his state is very often forced
to do evil [...]”
Socialism
and Islam
As touched on above, a major problem christianist societies have with
Socialism and Islam is a conflict over the notion of the individual; another
is the socialist/Islamic belief that “the end justifies the means”.
No libertarian can accept such a dogma that puts the individual as a tool
of the collective.
from Islamic authoritarianism:
lying
[from islamreview.com] [1]
Is Iran hiding a nuclear weapon program?
How is one to negotiate and form agreements with people who justify
lying?
The site quoted immediately before is Christianist. However, the claims
are not dissimilar from items on Islam-oriented sites. For instance,
on
lying [from al-islam.org, three pages, heavily referenced]. [1]
Brandeis
“To declare that in the administration of criminal law the end
justifies the means - to declare that the Government may commit crimes
in order to secure conviction of a private criminal - would bring terrible
retribution.”
Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941)
“[A member of the American Supreme Court Justice, Brandeis was]
a strong Liberal voice on the court for the remainder of his tenure,
playing a major role in the creation of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal,
and consistently supporting the causes of free speech, the right to
privacy, and the reform of labor laws.”
More comments from Brandeis:
“We can either have democracy in this country or we can have
great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both.”
“No danger flowing from speech can be deemed clear and present
unless the incidence of the evil apprehended is so imminent that it
may befall before there is an opportunity for full discussion. Only
an emergency can justify repression.”
“In the frank expression of conflicting opinions
lies the greatest promise of wisdom in governmental action.”
Brandeis was from a secular Jewish background, and later took an interest
in zionism.
Bernanos
Georges Bernanos (1888-1948) was a French catholic
and a catholic writer:
“The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive
is that the end justifies the means.”
Also from Bernanos:
“A thought which does not result in an action is nothing much,
and an action which does not proceed from a thought is nothing at all.”
Koestler
“Politics can be relatively fair in the breathing spaces of history;
at
its critical turning points there is no other rule possible than the
old
one, that the end justifies the means.”
Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
Arthur Koestler was a Hungarian novelist, journalist, and critic. In
Berlin between 1931-1938, he was a member of the Communist Party. He was
also a propagator of ‘parapsychology’! Koestler also has other
‘strangenesses’ and adventures with his life.
Trotsky
“The end may justify the means as long as there is something
that justifies the end.”
Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
Leon Trotsky was a Russian Communist theorist and agitator, and a leader
in Russia's October Revolution in 1917.
Rand
“The end does not justify the means. No one's rights can be
secured by the violation of the rights of others.”
Ayn Rand (1905-82 )
Ayn Rand was a virulent anti-communist.
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