The 48 Laws Of Power

ritatedand

upsetbychanges

thataffectthem

personally.They

knowthat

change

is

necessary,

and

that

noveltyprovides

relief

fromboredom,

but

deep

inside

theycling

tothe

past.Change

inthe

abstract,

or

superficial

change,they

desire,

buta

change

that

upsets

corehabitsandroutinesis

deeplydisturbing

tothem.

Norevolutionhas

gone

withouta

powerful

later

reaction

against

it,

for

inthe

long

run

thevoid

it

creates

proves

too

unsettling

tothehumanani-

mal,
who

unconsciously

associatessuchvoidswithdeathandchaos.The

opportunity

for

change

andrenewalseduces

people

tothesideoftherevo~

lution,

butoncetheirenthusiasm

fades,

whichit

will,

they

areleft

with

a

certain

emptiness.Yearning

forthe

past,they

createan

opening

foritto

creep

back

in.

For

Machiavelli,

the

prophet

who

preaches

and

bringschange

can

only

survive

bytakingup

arms:Whenthemasses

inevitablyyearn

forthe

past,

hemustbe

ready

touseforce.Butthearmed

prophet.

cannotlast

long

unlesshe

quickly

createsa

new

set

ofvaluesandritualsto

replace

theold

ones,
andtosoothetheanxietiesofthosewhodread

change.

Itisfar

easier,

andless

bloody,

to

play

akindofcon

game.

Preach

change

asmuchas

you

like,

andevenenact

your

reforms,

but

give

themthe

comfortingappear-

anceofoldereventsandtraditions.

Reigning

fromA.D. 8

toAD.

23,

theChinese

emperorWangMung

emerged

froma

period

of

great

historicalturbulenceinwhichthe

people

yearned

for

order,

anorder

represented

forthem

by

Confucius.Sometwo

hundred
years
earlier,
however,

Emperor

Ch’inhadorderedthe

writings

ofConfuciusburned.Afew
years

later,

word

had

spread

thatcertaintexts

had

miraculously

survived,

hiddenunderthescholar’shouse.Thesetexts

may

nothavebeen

genuine,

but

theygaveWang

his

opportunity:

Hefirst

confiscated
them,
then hadhis scribes insert
passages

into them that

seemedto
support

the

changes

hehadbeen

imposing

onthe

country.

Whenhereleasedthe
texts,

it

seemed

that

Confuciussanctioned

Wang’s

reforms,
andthe

people

feltcomfortedand

accepted

themmore

easily.

Understand:Thefactthatthe

past

isdead andburied

gives

you

the

freedomto
reinterpret

it.To

supportyour

cause,

tinkerwiththefacts.The

past

isatextinwhich

you

can

safely

insert

your

ownlines.

A

simplegesture

like

using

anold

title,

or

keeping

the

samenumber

fora
group,

willtie

you

to

the

past

and

supportyou

withthe

authority

of

history.

AsMachiavellihimself

observed,

theRomansusedthisdevice

when

they

transformedtheir

monarchy

intoa

republic.

Theymay

havein

stalledtwoconsulsin

place

ofthe

king,

butsincethe

king

hadbeenserved

by

twelve

lictors,

they

retainedthesamenumbertoserve

underthe

con-

suls.The

king

had

personallyperformed

anannual

sacrifice,

in9.

great

spectacle

thatstirredthe

public;

the

republic

retainedthis

practice,

only

transferring

ittoa

special

“chiefofthe

ceremony,

whom

they

calledthe

King

ofthesacrifice.”Theseandsimilar

gestures

satisfiedthe

people

and

kept

themfrom

clamoring

for

the

monarchy’s

return.

Another

strategy

to

disguisechange

istomakealoudand

public

dis~

play

of

support

forthevaluesofthe

past.

Seemtobeazealotfortradition

LAW 45 397