I thought that Machiavelli made a decent point when he said, “Those who rise from private citizens to be princes merely by fortune have little trouble in rising but very much in maintaining their position” (106). Getting to a position of power is not difficult for these people, but once they are there, they may have a difficult time in said position, because maybe they don’t deserve to be there in the first place. I think he focuses on how to maintain power because a lot of the time in the past and present, power is inherited, therefore they are not necessarily built for a leadership position.
Machiavelli also talks about how it is important for a prince to want to be seen as merciful rather than cruel. This is another way to maintain power and obviously you would want your followers to see you this way. However, in my opinion yes a leader should be merciful, but instead of worrying about ones image, a leader should put all their focus onto what their followers want and believe in.
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