The 48 Laws Of Power

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I/tatraveller.

“Well.

perhaps

not

the

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"

midthe

cilizzm,

"butmuch

the‘best.

"

"Youarecertainlv

wrongtfzerc,"s(1id

the

traveller.“IcanIsl!

you.

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buriedthe

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STEV1-LNSKJN. 18504894

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VULFAIRE.

1694 l778

3.12 LAW 38

ority

oftheirvaluesandbeliefs.In

the

end,

though,

their

arguments

con-

vince

only

a

fewandoffenda

great

dealmore.Thereason

arguments

do

notworkisthatmost

people

holdtheirideasandvalueswithout

thinking

aboutthem.Thereisa

strong

emotionalcontentintheirbeliefs:

They

re-

ally

donotwanttohavetoreworktheirhabitsof

thinking,

andwhen

you

challenge

them,

whether

directlythroughyourarguments

or

indirectly

throughyour

behavior,

they

arehostile.

Wiseandclever

people

learn

early

onthat

they

can

display

conven-

tionalbehaviorandmouthconventionalideaswithout

having

tobelievein

them.The

power

these

peoplegain

from

blending

inisthatof

being

left

alonetohave

the

thoughtsthey

wantto

have,

andto

express

them

tothe

peoplethey

wantto

express

them

to,

without

suliering

isolation

or

as

tracism.Once

they

haveestablishedthemselvesina

position

of

power,

they

can

try

toconvinceawidercircleofthecorrectnessoftheirideas-

perhapsworkingindirectly,usingCampanella’sstrategies

of

irony

andin-

sinuation.

In

thelatefourteenth

century,

the

Spanishbegan

a.massive

persecu-

tionof

the

Jews,murdering

thousandsand

driving

othersoutofthecoun»

try.

Thosewhoremainedin

Spain

wereforcedtoconvert.Yetoverthenext

threehundred

years,

the

Spanish

noticeda

phenomenon

thatdisturbed

them:

Many

oftheconvertslivedtheiroutwardlivesas

Catholics,

yet

somehow

managed

toretain

their

Jewish

beliefs,

practicing

the

religion

in

private.

Many

oftheseso-calledMarranos

(originally

a

derogatory

term,

being

the

Spanish

for

“pig”)

attained

high

levelsof

governmentoffice,

mar-

riedintothe

nobility,

and

gaveeveryappearance

ofChristian

piety,only

tobe

discovered

latein

lifeas

practicingJews.

(The

SpanishInquisition

was

specifically

commissionedtoferret

them

out.)

Overthe

yearsthey

masteredtheartof

dissimulation,

displaying

cmcifixes

liberally,giving

generous gifts

to

churches,

even

occasionally making

anti-Semitic

rema.rks—~andallthewhile

maintaining

theirinnerfreedomandbeliefs.

In

society,

theMan-anos

knew,

outward

appearances

arewhat

matter.

Thisremainstrue

today.

The

strategy

is

simple:

As

Campanella

didinwrit-

ing

Atheism

Conquered,

makeashowof

blending

in,

even

going

sofarasto

bethemostzealousadvocateofthe

prevailingorthodoxy.

If

you

stickto

conventional

appearances

in

public

fewwillbelieve

you

think

differently

in

private.

Do

notbeso

foolish

asto

imagine

thatinourowntimethe

old

ortho—

doxiesare

gone.Jonas

Salk,

for

instance,

thought

sciencehad

gottenpast

politics

and

protocol.

And

so,

inhissearchfora

polio

vaccine,

hebrokeall

the

rules--goingpublic

witha

discovery

before

showing

ittothescientific

community,taking

creditfor

thevaccinewithout

acknowledging

thescien-

tists

who

had

paved

the

way,making

himself

astar.

The

publicmay

have

lovedhimbutscientistsshunnedhim.His

disrespect

forhis

community’s

orthodoxieslefthim

isolated,

andhewasted

years

trying

to healthe

breach,

and

struggling

for

funding

and

cooperation.

Bertolt

Brechtunderwentamodern

formof

Inquisition—tl1e

House