The danger is, however, that this kind of isolation will sire all kinds of strange and perverted ideas. You may gain perspective on the larger picture, but you lose a sense of your own smallness and limitations. Also, the more isolated you are, the harder it is to break out of your isolation when you choose to it sinks you deep into its quicksand without your noticing. If you need time to think, then, choose isolation only as a last resort, and only in small doses. Be careful to keep your way back into society open.
Reversal
It is hardly ever right and propitious to choose isolation. Without keeping an ear on what is happening in the streets, you will be unable to protect yourself. About the only thing that constant human contact cannot facilitate is thought. The weight of society's pressure to conform, and the lack of distance from other people, can make it impossible to think clearly about what is going on around you. As a temporary recourse, then, isolation can help you to gain perspective. Many a serious thinker has been produced in prisons, where we have nothing to do but think. Machiavelli could write The Prince only once he found himself in exile and isolated on a farm far from the political intrigues of Florence.
Principal in the First Degree: A person who actually commits a crime. This actor is not an accomplice.
Principal in the Second Degree: A person who aids, supports, counsels, commands, or encourages the perpetrator in committing the crime. This actor is an accomplice.
Accessory Before the Fact: A person who aids, supports, counsels, commands, or encourages the perpetrator to commit the crime but who is not present during the commission of the crime. This actor is an accomplice.
Accessory After the Fact : A person who aids an individual knowing the individual has committed a crime in an effort to hinder the individual’s detection, arrest, trial, or punishment. Accessories after the fact are guilty of a separate crime, so this section on accomplice liability does not apply to accessories after the fact.
Accomplice Liability, Generally (MPC 2.06(1) & (2)(c)): A person is guilty of an offense if it is committed by his own conduct or by the conduct of another person for that he is legally accountable, or both. A person is legally accountable for the conduct of another person if he is an accomplice of such other person.
Accomplice liability, Intentional Action of Accomplice: An accomplice is liable if the accomplice: (1) has intent that the criminal act be committed and (2) commits an act that causes, encourages, assists, or induces the principal to commit the offense. I is sufficient that the aider and abettor commit the act while knowing the principal's intent to commit a crime, irrespective of whether the aider and abettor actually has a desire for the criminal act to succeed.
Accomplice liability, Common Criminal Design: Even without an act of his or her own, an accomplice is liable for the actions of his associates committed in furtherance of a common criminal design.
Accomplice liability, Independent Act: A person is not liable as an accomplice for an independent act of the principal, that is, an act not in furtherance of the common criminal scheme.
Terminating accomplice liability (MPC 2.06(6)(c)): A person is not an accomplice if he terminates his complicity prior to the commission of the offense AND (i) wholly deprives it of effectiveness in the commission of the offense; or (ii) gives timely warning to the law enforcement authorities or otherwise makes proper effort to prevent the commission of the offense.
Accomplice or co-conspirator? A person can be liable as an accomplice even though not as a co-conspirator.
Authority: A good and wise prince, desirous of maintaining that character, and to avoid giving the opportunity to his sons to become oppressive, will never build fortresses, so that they may place their reliance upon the good will of their subjects, and not upon the strength of citadels. (Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527)
Image: The Fortress. High up on the hill, the citadel becomes a symbol of all that is hateful in power and authority. The citizens of the town betray you to the first enemy that comes. Cut off from communication and intelligence, the citadel falls with ease.
Deterrence or prevention: Punishing an offender aims to deter future violations of the law. “Specific deterrence” refers to the purpose of deterring the offender himself from reoffending while “general deterrence” refers to the purpose of deterring other offenders from committing the same offense.
Incapacitation (or “restraint”): punishing an offender protects society from the offender by isolating the offender from members of society.
Rehabilitation: Punishing an offender gives the offender the opportunity to receive treatment so that the offender can be returned to society reformed, no longer desiring or needing to violate the law.
Education: Punishing offenders educates the public about the difference between criminal and non-criminal conduct.
Retribution: Punishing an offender is morally fair to recompense for the offender's crime.
MPC 2.01(2) & (3). Actus Reus: A person is not guilty of an offense unless his liability is based on conduct that includes a voluntary act or the omission to perform an act of that he is physically capable. An omission cannot form the basis for criminal liability unless the omission is expressly made sufficient by the law defining the offense or a duty to perform the act is otherwise imposed by law.
Mens Rea: The state of mind required to commit an offense. There are four levels of mens rea, from most to least culpable: purposely, knowingly, recklessly, and negligently.
MPC 2.02(2)(a). Purposely: A person acts purposely with respect to a material element of an offense when: (i) if the element involves the nature of conduct or a result of his conduct, it is his conscious object to engage in certain conduct or to cause a certain result; or (ii) if the element involves the attendant circumstances, he is aware of the existence the circumstances or believes or hopes they exist.
MPC 2.02(2)(b). Knowingly: A person acts knowingly with respect to a material element of an offense when: (i) if the element involves the nature of his conduct or the attendant circumstances, he is aware that his conduct is of that nature or that such circumstances exist; and (ii) if the element involves a result of his conduct, he is aware that it is practically certain that his conduct will cause such a result.
MPC 2.02(2)(c). Recklessly: A person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. Recklessness involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct a law-abiding person would observe in the actor’s situation.
MPC 2.02(2)(d). Negligently: A person acts negligently with respect to a material element of an offence when he should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. Negligence involves a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would observe in the actor’s situation.
MPC 2.02(3) & 2.02(5): When the culpability sufficient to establish a material element of an offense is not prescribed by law, such element is established if a person acts purposely, knowingly, or recklessly. hen the law provides that negligence suffices to establish an element of an offense, such element also is established if a person acts purposely, knowingly, or recklessly. When recklessness suffices to establish an element, such element also is established if a person acts purposely or knowingly. When acting knowingly suffices to establish an element, such element also is established if a person acts purposely.
When mistakes are defenses (MPC 2.04(1)): Ignorance or mistake of fact or law is a defense if: (a) it negates the purpose, knowledge, belief, recklessness, or negligence required to establish a material element of the offense; or (b) the law provides that the state of mind established by such ignorance or mistake constitutes a defense.
Mistakes & Grading (MPC 2.04(2)): Ignorance or Mistake is not a defense if the defendant would be guilty of another offense had the situation been as the defendant supposed. However, in that circumstance, the ignorance or mistake will reduce the grade of the offense committed to that of the offense that the defendant would be guilty of if the facts were as supposed.
Exceptions to Mistakes of Law (MPC 2.04(3)): A belief that conduct does not constitute an offense (i.e., ignorance or mistake of law) is a defense only if: (a) the statute defining the offense is not known to the defendant and was not published or reasonably made available prior to the conduct; or (b) the defendant acted in reasonable reliance on an official statement of the law, afterward determined to be invalid or erroneous, contained in (i) a statute; (ii) a judicial decision; (iii) an administrative order; or (iv) an official interpretation of the public officer or body charged with interpreting, administering, or enforcing the law defining the offense.
Finally, since power is a human creation, it is inevitably increased by contact with other people. Instead of falling into the fortress mentality, view the world in the following manner: It is like a vast Versailles, 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. That kind of mobility and social contact will protect you from plotters, who will be unable to keep secrets from you, and from your enemies, who will be unable to isolate you from your allies. Always on the move, you mix and mingle in the rooms of the palace, never sitting or settling in one place. No hunter can fix his aim on such a swift-moving creature.
These frescoes were visual equivalents of the effects of isolation on the human mind: a loss of proportion, an obsession with detail combined with an inability to see the larger picture, a kind of extravagant ugliness that no longer communicates. Clearly, isolation is as deadly for the creative arts as for the social arts. Shakespeare is the most famous writer in history because, as a dramatist for the popular stage, he opened himself up to the masses, making his work accessible to people no matter what their education and taste. Artists who hole themselves up in their fortress lose a sense of proportion, their work communicating only to their small circle. Such art remains cornered and powerless.
Pontormo died before completing the frescoes, and none of them has survived. But the great Renaissance writer Vasari, a friend of Pontormo's who saw the frescoes shortly after the artist's death, left a description of what they looked like. There was a total lack of proportion. Scenes bumped against scenes, figures in one story being juxtaposed with those in another, in maddening numbers. Pontormo had become obsessed with detail but had lost any sense of the overall composition. Vasari left off his description of the frescoes by writing that if he continued, "I think I would go mad and become entangled in this painting, just as I believe that in the eleven years of time Jacopo spent on it, he entangled himself and anyone else who saw it." Instead of crowning Pontormo's career, the work became his undoing.
Pontormo filled the chapel's ceiling with biblical scenes the Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah's ark, on and on. At the top of the middle wall he painted Christ in his majesty, raising the dead on Judgment Day. The artist worked on the chapel for eleven years, rarely leaving it, since he had developed a phobia for human contact and was afraid his ideas would be stolen.
In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current. Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give up earth itself and all it contains, rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose that in any situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing. Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly.
Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.
When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, social security number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.
I will never forget that I am an American, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.
In 1545 Duke Cosimo I de' Medici decided that to ensure the immortality of his name he would commission frescoes for the main chapel of the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. He had many great painters to choose from, and in the end he picked Jacopo da Pontormo. Getting on in years, Pontormo wanted to make these frescoes his chef d'oeuvre and legacy. His first decision was to close the chapel off with walls, partitions, and blinds. He wanted no one to witness the creation of his masterpiece, or to steal his ideas. He would outdo Michelangelo himself. When some young men broke into the chapel out of curiosity, Jacopo sealed it off even further.
Since humans are such social creatures, it follows that the social arts that make us pleasant to be around can be practiced only by constant exposure and circulation. The more you are in contact with others, the more graceful and at ease you become. Isolation, on the other hand, engenders an awkwardness in your gestures, and leads to further isolation, as people start avoiding you.
The Honorable Melissa G. Dalton
General James C. Slife
General Michael A. Guetlein
This law pertains to kings and queens, and to those of the highest power: The moment you lose contact with your people, seeking security in isolation, rebellion is brewing. Never imagine yourself so elevated that you can afford to cut yourself off from even the lowest echelons. By retreating to a fortress, you make yourself an easy target for your plotting subjects, who view your isolation as an insult and a reason for rebellion.
The French statesman Talleyrand played the game the same way. Although he came from one of the oldest aristocratic families in France, he made a point of always staying in touch with what was happening in the streets of Paris, allowing him to foresee trends and troubles. He even got a certain pleasure out of mingling with shady criminal types, who supplied him with valuable information. Every time there was a crisis, a transition of power the end of the Directory, the fall of Napoleon, the abdication of Louis XVIII he was able to survive and even thrive, because he never closed himself up in a small circle but always forged connections with the new order.
The Roman statesman Cicer was born into the lower nobility, and had little chance of power unless he managed to make a place for himself among the aristocrats who controlled the city. He succeeded brilliantly, identifying everyone with influence and figuring out how they were connected to one another. He mingled everywhere, knew everyone, and had such a vast network of connections that an enemy here could easily be counterbalanced by an ally there.
In moments of uncertainty and danger, you need to fight this desire to turn inward. Instead, make yourself more accessible, seek out old allies and make new ones, force yourself into more and more different circles. This has been the trick of powerful people for centuries.
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, as Louis XIV did at Versailles. All activity should revolve around you, and you should be aware of everything happening on the street, and of anyone who might be hatching plots against you. The danger for most people comes 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, however, they come to rely for information on a smaller and smaller circle, 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 and death.
Keys To Power
Machiavelli makes the argument that in a strictly military sense a fortress is invariably a mistake. It becomes a symbol of power's isolation, and is an easy target for its builders' enemies. Designed to defend you, fortresses actually cut you off from help and cut into your flexibility. They may appear impregnable, but once you retire to one, everyone knows where you are; and a siege does not have to succeed to turn your fortress into a prison. With their small and confined spaces, fortresses are also extremely vulnerable to the plague and contagious diseases. In a strategic sense, the isolation of a fortress provides no protection, and actually creates more problems than it solves.
