Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies
-- Machiavelli in the Prince
Not to call out Putin’s Russia for being amateur hour, but the Prince is probably the first thing to read for an aspiring dictator.
One of the cardinal rules of power struggles is “If you’re gonna shoot for the king, don’t miss.”
Furthermore,
-- Machiavelli in the Prince
Not to call out Putin’s Russia for being amateur hour, but the Prince is probably the first thing to read for an aspiring dictator.
Wait, I’m listening to The Prince in audiobook form. Does that mean I’m an aspiring dictator?
Well, if you are, there might be a job opening in Russia for you soon!
When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.