POWER

Do Not Build Fortresses To Defend Yourself - Isolation Is Dangerous

Machiavelli makes the argument that in a strictly military sense, a fortress is a mistake. It becomes a symbol of power's isolation and is an easy target. Designed to defend you, a fortress cuts you off from help and reduces your flexibility. They may appear impregnable, but once you retire to one, everyone knows where you are and your fortress can be turned into your prison. With their small and confined spaces, fortresses are extremely vulnerable to diseases. In a strategic sense, the isolation of a fortress provides no protection and creates more problems that it solves.

Because humans are social creatures by nature, power depends on social interaction and circulation. To make yourself powerful, you must place yourself at the center of things. All activity should revolve around you, and you should be aware of everything happening in your realm. The difficulty comes for most people when they feel threatened. In such times, they tend to retreat and close ranks, to find security in a kind of fortress. In doing so, they tend to rely on information from a smaller and smaller group, and lose perspective on events around them. They lose maneuverability and become easy targets, and their isolation makes them paranoid. As in warfare and most games of strategy, isolation often precedes defeat.

In moments of uncertainty and danger, you need to fight this desire to turn inward. Make yourself more accessible, seek out old allies and make new ones, force yourself into more and more different circles. This has been the tactic of powerful people for centuries.

The Roman statesman, Cicero, was born into the lower nobility and had little chance of power, unless he made a place for himself among the aristocrats, who controlled the city. He succeeded brilliantly, identifying everyone with influence and deteremining their inter-connections. He mingled everywhere, knew everyone and had such a vast network of connections that an enemy here could easily be offset by an ally there.

Since humans are such social creatures, it follows that the social arts must be practiced with constant exposure and circulation. The more you are in contact with others, the more graceful and at ease you become. Isolation ,however, engenders an awkwardness in your gestures and leads to further isolation, as people avoid you.

Instead of falling into the fortress mentality, view the world in the following manner: It is like a vast palace, with every room communicating with another. You need to be permeable, able to float in and out of different circles and mix with different types. This kind of mobility and social contact will protect you. Always on the move, you mix and mingle in the rooms of the palace, never settling in one place. No hunter can fix his aim on a swiftly moving target.

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