h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Assuming that I have successfully achieved great power through judicious application of the 48 laws, now what do I do? Maybe just set another, higher goal, perhaps King Of America...

This is the most depressing Entry I've read in a long time.

Oh but it is! And I thank you for pointing that out, jqr.
This entry is not meant to make anyone happy.
It is just that machiavellist works like this have been out of style for quite a long time now, and I think we should be wary of them always. They are no fun at all, and following their guidelines isn't a lifesize party either. So, in writing this entry, I am making the community aware that another hellish creation has been spawned, and that they best be aware of it's contents, lest it do unto them what it has done unto so many before, in all its different guises.

oooo.

Yeah, I could imagine the book being quite depressing, but only because it deals with what the world is really like. And that is something you can´t really change, even though it is depressing. That was the problem with Machavelli, he broke ppl´s romantic ideas and they didn´t like that. But he is so interesting because contrary to other philosophers he write about how the world is, not how it should be. You don´t gain much from only hearing about how this world would be oh-so-nice if it was like this and that. You need to know what it´s like if you want to live in it.

I guess an Entry like this one makes a nice counterpoint to that anodyne one about popular received wisdom.