As I counsel my patients, it is only through the pursuit of virtue, human dignity, common sense and realism that you can establish the self-esteem and self-acceptance (as opposed to self-loathing) necessary for personal and professional growth and wellness. Only the true narcissist can so baldly justify Machiavellian tactics and not face moral repercussions. Bernard Madoff’s malignant narcissism and psychopathy, as others in the media have attested to, epitomize this observation. In some circles, Madoff, Marc Drier, and Ken Lay are considered freaks of nature, but seemingly humans nevertheless. The archetype of the financial psychopath will be discussed in later posts.
Therefore, applying the lessons of “The Prince”, or, even worse, the bastardized, second-hand interpretations of “The Prince,” as misappropriated by many misguided business writers, is self-defeating. Does the end— political stability as originally intended by Machiavelli—justify the means?
Perhaps it does, in selective circumstances. We have seen the atrocities perpetrated on humanity in the wake of political instability. Now consider, does the end justify the means, when the goal is solely the accumulation of wealth?
What is ignored here is the psychological currency the individual surrenders to reconcile the behavior required to achieve financial, as opposed to political, success.
When a man destroys another man, or a group of men, to preserve a political ideal, the moral justification is much different than when a man destroys others for the sake of greed alone.
Even those in the financial services industry who envision themselves as descendants of the Machiavellian archetype, unless they are truly malevolent and narcissistic, rarely fully appreciate the psychological damage they inflict upon themselves, trading on their virtue for shallow financial gain.