The 48 Laws Of Power

by

the

incompetence

ofthosearound

you.

Ifthe

scapegoatappears

too

weakandhis

punishment

too

cruel,

youmay

end

up

thevictimof

your

own

device.Sometimes

you

shouldfindamore

powerfulscapegoatm-one

whowillelicitless

sympathy

in

the

long

run.

Inthis

vein,

history

hastimeand

again

shownthevalueof

using

a

closeassociateasa

scapegoat.

Thisisknownasthe“fallofthefavorite.”

Most

kings

hada

personal

favoriteat

court,

amanwhom

theysingled

out,

sometimesforno

apparent

reason,

andlavishedwithfavorsandattention.

Butthiscourtfavoritecouldserveasatconvenient

scapegoat

incaseofa

threattothe

king’sreputation.

The

public

would

readily

believeinthe

scapegoat’sguilt-—why

wouldthe

king

sacrificehisfavoriteunlesshewere

guilty?

Andtheother

couxtiers,

resendulofthe

favorite

anyway,

would

re-

joice

athisdownfall.The

king,

meanwhile,

would

rid

himself

of

amanwho

by

thattimehad

probably

learnedtoomuchabout

him,perhapsbecoming

arrogant

andevendisdainfulofhim.

Choosing

acloseassociateasa

scape-

goat

hasthesamevalueasthe“fallofthefavorite.”You

may

loseafriend

or

aide,

butinthe

long—term

schemeof

things,

itismore

important

tohide

your

mistakes

thanto

hold

on

tosomeonewhoone

day

will

probably

turn

againstyou.

Besides,

you

can

always

find

a.

newfavoritetotake

hisplace.

Image:

TheInnocentGoat.On

the

Day

of

Atonement,

the

high

priestbrings

the

goat

intothe

temple,places

hishandsonits

head,

andconfessesthe

pea»

ple’s

sins,

transferringguilt

to

the

guiltless

beast,

which is

thenledtothewildernessand

abandoned,

the

people’s

sins

and blame

vanishing

with him.

Authority:Folly

consists

not

in

committingFolly,

butin

being

incapable

of

concealing

it.

Allmenmake

mistakes,

butthewise

concealtheblunders

they

have

made,

whilefoolsmakethem

pub~

lic.

Reputationdepends

moreonwhatishiddenthanonwhatis

seen.If

you

can’tbe

good,

becareful.

(BaltasarGrecian,16014658)

LAW 26 2/15