50 Shades of Bullshit

The Modern Liberal's Torrid Sado-Masochistic Relationship with Lies

Niccolo Machiavelli once postulated (paraphrased) that politics could not be conducted without The Lie. That while force was not always necessary to the business of politics, one could not truly practice the art with any great skill or subtlety without a healthy dose of fraud. Machiavelli justified -- or at least rationalized -- the Lie as an unavoidable accessory to power, for in order to exercise it over the Masses it is often necessary to make use of them -- their desires, fears, aspirations, hatreds, opinions -- and if the Masses were ever to discover that they were being used in this fashion, they would revolt.

The Lie is necessary; it serves to hide one's true motives from the people over whom one wields power. Machiavelli understood that achieving power means lying and justified it, perversely, as a matter of honesty. The Ruler who was honest about his intentions (always to himself) could conduct public affairs in a much more straightforward, more efficient manner. For his ultimate goal is not, strictly-speaking, always the most good for the most people, but rather to continue in power, for no one accepts or takes power with the intention of voluntarily giving it up.

This is the genesis of the old saying that "The Ends Justify The Means".