management of machiavelli, a prescription for success in your business. machiavelli for women. this is from the wars of intimacy to the battles of public life, whether confronting bosses, competitors or lovers. the greatest power belongs to the woman who dares to use the subtle weapons that are hers alone. or machiavelli for moms. the effective government of children. even in 2013, or made especially in 2013 we should not be complacent about this book, after 500 years it is still potent. it is still possibly dangerous. it is still rich in its silences. it is still deceptively simple. it is still effective in forcing us to consider questions of right and wrong, the exercise of power, domestically and globally. we are fortunate this evening to have to engage in thoughtful commentators on this book. the first is professor edward muir, he is among a handful of early modern historians here and abroad who have redefined the field. he's a pioneer in methods of cultural history. he looks at what the details of everyday life tell us about structures of power and about the nature of hier

now who was machiavelli? he comes from a prominent but not most distinguished family in they were not aristocrats, but they had produced 54 prior meant that they were city councilmen and was a mayor of the neighborhood and the strong traditions within the family and the and then tortured and executed three generations before and for savitt freedom this is the world that they inherited. his own father was a rather bookish lawyer, ineffectual, impoverished, really one of the lesser lights in the machiavelli of plan who had made a little money by writing indexes for other books. so clearly he had gained for some degree his interest in books from his father, his interest in politics from a family that had been long committed to the political behavior but at the same time she was no longer in the mainstream of the florentine life. his own family had seven children although we know that despite the fact that he seems to have been reasonably affectionate with his wife in numerous affairs he fell madly in love at one

and i was wondering what you think machiavelli's judgment would be of the men have been able to amass such power, despite the fact that in their of messing it, the system has given them the power. [laughter] >> this just got handed to me. i recall something i said at the end of my talk, which was one of the very startling aspects of machiavelli's political sociology of republics is his awareness that inequalities of wealth are a source of corruption and a threat to the survival of republics, that rich elites are habitually subversive of democratic liberty. he has a very startling disabused, or disenchanted view, of wealth and magnificence. so that in the machiavellian sociology of wealth there's no authority that comes with wealth by itself. it's just another form of power. and that's a different view of wealth you get and other sociology's of wealth and power in the same period. i think that's what i would say. i would not venture into the wall street, but i think that what you can take from machiavelli is, he isn't impressed, you know? that's important. he's not impressed by people

the usda for its part issued a statement saying that there is nothing sinister machiavelli going on.t this statement from the usda that says quote it's committed to doing all to minimize the impact of the sequester for our employees and the farmers, ranchers and rural communities we serve. they are doing a little bit of hine covering here, right? >> that completely goes against the email we got which has to do with helping out basically salmon fishermen or people engaged in raising fish. that sort of thing. and saying well, if they are having to deal with disasters, can we help them? and the word from on high is no because we said we can't help them so don't go ahead and help them. whatever usda is is saying now that they got their hand caught in the cookie jar is the opposite of whatee know people on the ground were being told by the administration. >> neil: all right. --, there is the knap janet napolitano argument. it will be as some of these cuts go into effect and these budget did you tell us really take hold. is there any even possible truth to that? >> well, it's true that the