“Love has been likened to giving someone the power to destroy you, while trusting them not too...”
Prudence indeed will dictate that Governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all man-made realities that subjugate men to other men, these experiences hath shown that mankind is more disposed to suffer. Although many evils are suffer-able, the question remains: "When will mankind right or correct themselves by abolishing all the forms by which we are accustomed and thereby suffer. But when long trains of abuses and usurpation pursue invariably the same objectives, same means, or same outcome evinces {what it reveals} is surely a practical design to further reduce us {the governed} under absolute despotism {breaking all the rules}. Then it becomes the right of those under this type of government to throw-off such leaders and promote new guards for future security...
Excerpt from ~Declaration of Independence~
Excerpt from ~Declaration of Independence~
Holy Quran 8:52
كَدَأْبِ ءَالِ فِرْعَوْنَ ۙ وَٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ ۚ كَفَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ فَأَخَذَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِذُنُوبِهِمْ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ قَوِىٌّ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعِقَابِ
[Theirs is] like the custom of the people of Pharaoh and of those before them. They disbelieved in the signs of Allah, so Allah seized them for their sins. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and severe in penalty.
Holy Quran 8:53
ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَمْ يَكُ مُغَيِّرًا نِّعْمَةً أَنْعَمَهَا عَلَىٰ قَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا۟ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ ۙ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
That is because Allah would not change a favour [blessing] which He had bestowed upon a people [or nation] until they change what is within themselves. And indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
“Almost everyone would admit to how praiseworthy it is in a prince [Leader] to keep true faith, and to live with integrity and not by craft alone. Nevertheless, in the worlds experience we have only been largely familiarized with those princes’ [leaders] & empires who have done great things and subsequently have held good faith to little account, relying more so on the craftiness of cleaver deceptions to circumvent the intellect of men, thus overcoming those who have relied solely on the words of leaders.
You must know there are two ways of contesting, one by the law, the other by force;
You must know there are two ways of contesting, one by the law, the other by force;
- the first method is proper to men,
- the second to beasts
“Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary for him/her to appear to have them. And I shall dare to say this also, that to have them and always to observe them is injurious...in other words it solidifies ones self-image primarily to a more merciful persona, while in contrast, to appear to have them [these qualities] is more useful; to appear merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright, and to be so, but with a mind so framed that should you require not to be so, you may be able and know how to change to the opposite.
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And you have to understand this, that a prince [leader], especially a new one, cannot observe all those things for which men are esteemed, being often forced, in order to maintain the state, to act contrary to fidelity, friendship, humanity, and religion. Therefore it is necessary for him to have a mind ready to turn itself accordingly as the winds and variations of fortune force it, yet, as I have said above, not to diverge from the good if he can avoid doing so, but, if compelled, then to know how to set about it.
For this reason a prince [leader] ought to take care that he never lets anything slip from his lips that is not replete with the above-named five qualities, that he may continue to appear to the public who sees and hears him altogether merciful, faithful, humane, upright, and religious. Furthermore, it is most important to appear to have a religious demeanor/conviction, because men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand; and because the leader belongs to everybody to see you, few actually come into close proximity to him/her making his/her appearance the attribute by which the many will know him/her. In other words, Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are, and those few dare not oppose themselves to the vague opinions of the many, against he/she who has the majesty of the state to defend them; and in the actions of all men, and especially of princes [leaders], which it is not prudent to challenge, one judges by the result.
For that reason, let a prince [leader] have the credit of conquering and holding his state, the means will always be considered honest, and he will be praised by everybody; because the vulgar are always taken by what a thing seems to be and by what comes of it...
Thus, It makes him hated above all things, as I have said, to be rapacious, and to be a violator of their {citizens} property {even when considered in withholding property from some} and women {Women of color in America are exploited by the oppression of their men} of his subjects, from both of which he must abstain. And when neither their property nor their honor is touched, the majority of men will live in content, and he has only to contend with the ambition of a few, whom he can curb with ease in many ways.
Furthermore, It makes him contemptible to be considered fickle, frivolous, effeminate, mean-spirited, irresolute, from all of which a prince should guard himself from; So he {the prince} should always endeavor to show in his/her action(s) in greatness, with courage, gravity{being grounded}, and fortitude. The private dealings of the Prince {leader} with his subjects let him show that his judgments are irrevocable, this ensures that he {the prince} will maintain himself in such reputation that no one can hope either to deceive him or to get round him.
That prince is highly esteemed who conveys this impression of himself, and he who is highly esteemed is not easily conspired against; for, provided it is well known that he is an excellent man and revered by his people, he can only be attacked with difficulty. One of the most efficacious remedies that a prince can have against conspiracies is not to be hated and despised by the people, for he who conspires against a prince always expects to please them by his removal; but when the conspirator can only look forward to offending them, he will not have the courage to take such a course.
Paraphrased Excerpt From: “The Prince”, Niccolò Machiavelli; https://books.apple.com/ca/book/the-prince/id434749890
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Holy Quran 6:112 |
People have become so perverse that we don’t favor embracing the truth in preference to falsehood by exercising our intellectual capacities along with volition & choice [resistivity towards herd conformity]. Thus, it only seems that such endowed human abilities are retained if Allah makes them truth-lovers as a result of their individual efforts...