1423-1483), the great Spider King of France, had a weak-

Necessity

rules the world.

People rarely

^actunless

compelled

^to.Ifyou createnoneedfor

yourself,

^thenyou will be doneaway with^atfirst_oppor-

tunity. If,

^{onthe other}

hand,

you understand^theLaws of Power and make others

depend

^on you^fortheirwelfare,_{if you}^{can counteract}their weak»

nesswith your^own “iron and

blood,”

ⁱⁿ Bisrn-arck’s

phrase,

^thenyou will survive your ^{masters as} Bismarck did, You will have all the benefits of power without the thorns that^comefrom

being

^amaster.

Thusawiseprince^willthinkofways^to

keep

his citizens

of

^everysort

and undereverycircumstance

dependent

^{onthestateandon}him;

and than

they

^will

always

^be

trustworthy.

Nitculéll/l(tt'hi(tzIellz'., ^{1469-152 7}

KEYS TO POWER

The ultimate power^isthe_powerto

get people

^todoasyou wish. Whenyou

can do thiswithout

having

^{to force}

people

^orhurt

^them,

^when

they

^will»

ingly

grantyou whatyou

desire,

^thenyourpower^isuntouchable. The best way^toachieve this

position

^{isto createa.}

relationship

^of

dependence.

^The

master

requires

your services; ^{he is} weak, ^{orunable to functionwithout} you; you^have enmeshed

yourself

^{inhis workso}

deeply

^that

doing

away with you^would

bring

^him

great difficulty,

^{oratleastwouldmeanvaluable}

timelostin

training

^anotherto

replace

you. Once such^a

relationship

^ises-

tablished_{you have}the upper

hand,

^the

leverage

^{to make themasterdoas}

you wish. ^{It is}the classiccaseof themanbehind the

throne,

^theservantof the

king

^who

actually

controls the

king.

^{Bismarckdidnothaveto}

bully

^ei-

therFrederickorWilliaminto

doing

^his

bidding.

^He

simply

^madeitclear

that unless hegot^whathe wanted he would walk away,

leaving

^the

king

^to

twist inthe wind.Both

kings

^{soondancedtoBismarck’stune.}

Do notbeoneofthe many who

mistakenly

believe that the ultimate form of power ^is

independence.

Power involves a

relationship

^between

people;

you will

always

need othersas

allies,

pawns,^{or even as}weakmas

terswhoserveasyour front. The

completely independent

^{manwould live}

inacabininthe woods«—~he wouldhave thefreedomtocomeandgo^ashe

pleased,

but he would haveno power.^{The best}you ^can

hope

^{for isthat}

others_{will grow}so

dependent

^onyou^thatyou

enjoy

^{akind ofreversein-}

dependence:

Their need for you frees you.

86

the

signal they

^{were to}

pick

^the

astrologer

up, carry him ^to the

window,

and hurl himtothe

ground,

hundreds offeet below.

The

astrologer

^soon

arrived,

^{but before}

giving

^the

signal,

^{Louis de-}

cidedtoaskhimonelast

question:

^{“You claimtounderstand}

astrology

^and

to know the fateof

others,

^{so tellme}what your fate will be and how

long

you have^tolive.”

“Ishall die

just

^three

days

before Your

Majesty,"

^the

astrologer replied.

The

kings signal

^wasnever

given.

^{Theman’s lifewas}

spared.

^The

Spider King

^not

only protected

^his

astrologer

^foras

long

^ashewas

^alive,

^{he lav-}

ishedhim with

gifts

^{andhad himtended}

by

^{thefinestcourtdoctors.}

The

astrologer

survived Louis

by

^severalyears,

disproving

his power of

prophecy

^but

proving

^his

mastery

of power.

Thisis the model: Make others

dependent

^onyou. To

get

rid of you

might spell ^disaster,

^even

^death,

and your^{masterdaresnot}

tempt

^fate

by finding

^{out. There are} many ways ^to obtain such ^a

position.

^Foremost

among them ^istopossess^atalent and creative skill that

simply

^cannotbe

replaced.

During

^the

Renaissance,

^the

major

^obstacletoa

pajntefls

success was

finding

^the

right patron. Michelangelo

^didthis better thananyone else:^His

patron

^was

Pope julius

^H.Buthe and the pope

quarreled

^overthe

building

ofthe

pope’s

^{marble‘comb,and}

Michelangelo

^{left Romein}

disgust

^{To the}

amazementof thoseinthe

pope’s ^circle,

^not

only

^didthe pope^notfire

him,

he

sought

^{him out andin hisown}

haughty

way

begged

^{theartist to}

stay.

Michelangelo,

^he

^knew,

could find anotherpatron,^{but hecouldneverfind} another

Michelangelo.

You donothavetohave the talent of^3.

Michelangelo;

you do have^to haveaskill thatsetsyou

apart

from the crowd.Youshouldcreatea situa- tion inwhichyou^can

always

^{latchontoanothermasteror}patronbut your master cannot

easily

^{find anotherservantwith your}

particular

talent. And

if,

ⁱⁿ

reality,

you^{are not}

actually indispensable,

you ^must find away ^to makeitlookasifyou^are.

Having

the appearance^of

specialized knowledge

and skill

gives

you

leeway

ⁱⁿyour

ability

^todeceive those above you^into

thinking they

^cannotdo without you. Real

dependence

^onyour^master’s

part, however,

^{leaveshimmorevulnerableto} you than the faked

variety,

anditis

always

within your power^tomake your skill

indispensable.

Thisis whatismeant

by

^the

intertwining

^{offates: Like}

creeping ivy,

you have

wrapped yourself

^{around the source of}power, ^sothatitwould

cause

great

trauma to cutyou away. And you do^not

necessarily

^havetoen-

twine

yourself

^aroundthe master; anotherperson will

do,

^as

long

^asheor

shetoois

indispensable

^{inthe chain.}

One

day Harry ^Colin, president

^ofColumbia

^Pictures,

^{was visited in}

his office

by

^a

gloomy

group of hisexecutives.Itwas

1951,

when the witch- hunc

against

^Communistsin

Hollywood,

^carriedon

by

^{the US.}

Congress’s

House Un-American Activities

Committee,

^{was atits}

height.

^{The execu-}

tiveshad badnews:One oftheir

employees,

^the

screenwriterjolm

^Howard

Lawson,

^{had been}

singled

^{outas aCommunist.}

They

^hadto

get

^{ridof him}

night

away^orsufferthewrathofthecommittee.

Harry

^{Cohnwas no}

bleeding—heart ^liberal;

ⁱⁿ

^fact,

^{he had}

always

^been

adiehard

Republican.

His favorite

politician

^{was Benito}

^Mussolini,

^{whom hehad oncevis-}

ited,

and whose framed

photo hung

^onhis wall. If therewas someonehe hated Cohn would call him^a“Communistbastard.”Buttothe executives’

amazementCohn told them he wouldnotfire Lawson. He didnot

keep

^the

screenwriter on because he was a

good

Writer—there were many

good

writers in

Hollywood.

^He

kept

him because ofa chain of

dependence:

Lawson^was

Humphrey Bogart’s

^writerand

Bogart

^{wasColumbia’sstar. If}

Cohn messed with Lawson he would ruin an

immensely profitable

^rela-

tionship.

^{That wasworthmore}than the terrible

publicity brought

^tohim

by

his defiance of thecommittee.

Henry Kissinger managed

^tosurvivethe many

bloodlettings

^thatwent

oninthe NixonWhiteHousenotbecause he^wasthebest

diplomat

^Nixon

could find—there were other fine

negotiators»--and

^not because the two men

got along

^sowell:

They

^{didnot. Nor did}

they

^sharetheirbeliefs and

politics. Kissinger

survived because he entrenched himselfin so many

areas of the

political

^{structure that to} do away with him would lead ^to chaos.

Michelangelds

power^wasintensive,

depending

^{on one}

^skill,

^{his abil-}

ity

^{as an} artist;

Kissinger’s

^{was extensive. He} got himself involved in so

many

aspects

^and

departments

^{of the}administration that his involvement became a card in his hand. It also made him many allies. If you ^can arrange ^{such a}

position

^for

yourself, getting

^rid of you becomes

dangerous—all

^{sorts of}

interdependencies

will unravel.

Still,

^theintensive form of power

provides

^morefreedom than the extensive, because those who have it

depend

^{on no}

particular

^{master, or}

particular position

^of

power, for their

security.

To make others

dependent

^on you, ^{one route to} take is the secret-

intelligence

^tactic.

By knowing

^other

people’s

^secrets,

by holding

^informa-

tionthat

they

^{wouldn’twant}

broadcast,

you sealyourfatewiththeirs.You

areuntouchable.Ministers ofsecret

police

have held this

position through»

outthe ages:

They

^{canmakeorbreaka}

king,

^{or,asinthecase}

of Edgar Hoover,

^a

president.

But the role^issofull ofinsecuritiesand

paranoia

^that

the power^it

provides

almost cancels itselfout.Youcannot rest at ease,and what

good

^ispower if^it

brings

you^no

peace?

One last

warning:

^Donot

imagine

that your master’s

dependence

^on

you will make him love you. In

fact,

_{he may}^{resentandfear}you.

But,

^as Machiavelli

said,

^{it isbetterto}be feared than loved. Fear_youcan

control;

love,

^never.

Depending

^{onanemotionassubtleand}

changeable

^asloveor

friendship

^will

only

make you^insecure. Bettertohave others

depend

^on

you^outoffearofthe consequences^of

losing

youthanoutoflove of your company.

LAW II

187

885

Image:

^{Vines with}

Many

^Thorns.

^Below,

^{the roots}

_grow deep

and wide.

Above,

^thevines

push through ^bushes,

^{entwinethemselves}

LAW 11

aroundtreesand

poles

^{and window}

ledges.

^To

get

rid of them wouldcostsuch toil and

blood,

it is easiertolet them climb.

Authority:

^Make

people depend

^on

you. ^{More is to be}

gained

^{from -}

such

dependence

^than

courtesy.

^He

who has slaked his

thirst,

^immedi-

ately

^{turns his back on the}

^well,

no

longer needing

^it.When

depen~

dence

disappears,

^{so does}

civifity

and

decency,

^{and then}

^respect.

The first lesson which

experience

should teach you ^{is to}

keep hope

alive but ^never

satisfied, keeping

even a

royal patron

^{everinneed of} you.

(Baltasar Gracién, 16014658)

REVERSAL

The weakness of

making

^others

depend

^{on you is that you arein some}

measure

dependent

^{onthem. But}

trying

^tomove

beyond

^that

point

^means

getting

rid of those above

you—it

^means

standing ^alone, depending

^{on no}

one.Suchisthe

monopolistic

^{drive of}

a_].

^P.

Morgan

^or

ajohn

^{D. Rocke-}

feller———to driveout all

competition,

^{to bein}

complete

control. If you ^can

cornerthe

market,

^somuch the better.

No such

independence

^{comeswithouta}

price.

^{Youareforcedtoisolate}

yourself. Monopolies

^{oftenturninwardand}

destroy

themselves from thein- ternal pressure.

They

^also stir up

powerful

resentment,

making

^{their ene-}

miesbond

together

^to

fight

them. The drive for

complete

^{controlisoften}

ruinous and fruitless.

Interdependence

remains the

law, independence

^a

rareand often fatal

exception.

^{Better to}

place yourself

^ina.

position

^ofmu-

tual

dependence, ^then,

^andtofollowthis critical law rather than look forits reversal. You willnothave the unbearable pressure of

being

^on

^top,

^andthe

masterabove you will^inessencebe your

slave,

^{for kewill}

depend

^onyou.

12