Learning about tyrants
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The Prince By Martha Levison This past summer was the summer of the second coming, or rather, fifth: “Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix.” And what did my fifteen-year-old son, Sam read? The kid who, since he was ten, saved his allowances to buy all four of the previous Harry Potter books hardbound and insisted we move them from the kid bookcase upstairs to the adult bookcase down? Machiavelli’s, “The Prince.” I winced. Sam’s Sophomore Euro History class had summer reading requirements, but a 15th Century treatise on how a ruler should not be bound by laws and morale but should be ruthless in order to be effective? “Are you sure Mr. Melvin didn’t assign, ‘Le Petite Prince?” I asked. “No, mom.” He rolled his eyes. “We have to read Thomas More’s ‘Utopia’ too.” I shook my head. Sam would never catch up with what was happening at Hogwarts while plodding through More’s strange 14th century societies, Nolandia and Happiland. What could my son learn from a king who took on another country only to find he could not manage two? Or another king who swore to keep only a thousand pounds of gold in his own bank account because he cared more about his country’s welfare than his own? Would learning that the danger in creating a society that provides everyone’s basic needs at the expense of their personal liberties shatter Sam’s idealism and innocence? Right now he thought Utopia was the perfect set of waves at Half Moon Bay. And as far as ‘The Prince’ went, my son wouldn’t even be voting for another three years. At his age differentiating between a good politician, a good leader and a good man would only confuse him. It’s not like he must educate himself to vote on recalling a governor or anything... Now the first weeks of school are upon us and I envision Mr. Melvin’s Euro History class discussions. They’ll probably talk about Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini. I hope Sam has not forgotten Voldemort. I consider the wide range of current tyrants. With trepidation I ask my son, “Who in the world, right now, reminds you of “The Prince?” He stares at me. “Dad?” Now I’m really worried. About the Author: Martha Levison is a mother of two teenage boys, writer, wife, and Welsh Corgi owner who lives in Danville, California. She enjoys running, frequent trips into San Francisco, and boating with her family on the California Delta. Her work has appeared in the LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle and KQED Radio. She also sings with the Rolling Stones in her spare time. © siliconmom
