Is Lack of Order the Beginning of Chaos?

Is Lack of Order the Beginning of Chaos?

Is there a natural force that enforces power on humans? The question does order rely on the imposition of power is answered through the beliefs and ideas discussed in philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, and classical economist Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. Machiavelli believes that order is based on the sagacity of rulers and depends on the ruler’s resoluteness, while Smith believes that humans behave with self-interest and order comes from a natural harmony in the market place. These ideas can be proved through examples in Pitcairn’s Island by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, a story about nine mutineers and 18 Polynesians that become permanent refugees and flee to the island to escape mutiny charges back in Britain. Machiavelli might argue that when Christian gave the rest of the inhabitants the chance to vote and make decisions on the island is when order was lost, leading to the chaos on the island.

Machiavelli believes that power is the only sense of power and that a leader must be slow and thoughtful to act but should also show no fear in his actions. He also feels that order is based on a ruler’s ability to be both stern and thoughtful with his decisions. Machiavelli states that “humans are ungrateful, fickle, false… and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life, and children” (Machiavelli 79). According to Machiavelli, if one is a good leader, their citizens will give them everything they have to better the state of the nation. Tinder states, through Machiavelli’s ideas, that if the leader cannot resolve issues in a nation, they are not a good leader for that nation and that “order depends on resoluteness and skill of political leaders” (qtd. in Tinder 98). Machiavelli feels that a political leader must be able to govern his nation and make quick, thoughtful decisions for the nation, it will not succeed in the things they set...