“In a good way, it’s easier to be around people who only think about themselves. Japan still wears masks.”

A friend who returned from Italy for the first time in two years and I visited a delicious Tuscan restaurant run by a mutual friend. The head chef recommended a meat dish called Bistecca alla Fiorentina, saying, “I have to eat this.” And the usual Machiavelli Chianti Classico that my friend unplugged and put on the counter. How many times have I heard the owner say, “Men should think about Machiavelli while doing meat and Machiavelli.” As usual, the early autumn night is getting late.

Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was a politician, thinker, and philosopher in the Republic of Florence, Italy, 500 years ago. He is also famous as the author of “The Prince”. As an aside, the Machiavelli family is a winemaker, and the current Machiavelli wine is aged in the basement of the house where he wrote The Monarch.

back to the topic. Among his theories of the monarchy, the most memorable is the statement, “There is one important ability that is commonly needed in any field: imagination.”

People always hit a wall. When he hits a wall, he has his doubts. Trying to solve the question in various ways. In many cases, it is not resolved and suffers. And I came to realize that the only way to break through is to appeal to the imagination. It takes practice to cultivate that imagination. It’s the same as training your body. He hits a wall over and over again and has questions, and he continues to use his imagination to solve them.

Why do people who have careers and are able to study often fail? Perhaps it is because they are elites and have almost no experience of “walls, doubts, and imagination”. Family life, social life, and even corporate management cannot move forward without “exercising imagination.”

Another important point is the importance of military power. It would be better to replace it with “the power to protect safety”. A monarch needs laws and military equipment. Concerning armaments, it continues to say that a standing army, not a mercenary army, and infantry, not cavalry, are important. It also preaches that training should be carried out in stages according to the level of proficiency.

In addition, the importance of the commander’s ability to lead the military is explained. Courage and good deeds, rather than lineage and authority, strengthen leadership, and speech skills are also required. The contents of the story seem to indicate the direction in which this country should go these days, and even if it is replaced with management, it is a story that really has implications.

It is said that during the days of his downfall, he wrote “The Prince” at his parents’ house surrounded by vineyards, playing with servants and peasants during the day and sitting at his desk at night. The house is still passed down to its descendants today and still produces excellent wines. Even though he was banished, he must have continued the cycle of “wall ↓ question ↓ imagination” in pursuit of an ideal national image. He has red wine as his friend.

(President of EHS Research Institute)

Source link