Here's my newest article, enjoy.

http://illimitablemen.com/2015/06/20/morality-and-machiavellianism/

Excerpt:

Morals are too emotional to be debated and agreed upon via consensus, rather ironically they must be imposed via a platonic noble lie such as religion. This of course is immoral in a number of ways, but nevertheless it is best characterised as deceit with an altruistic intention. It serves a “greater good,” and thus for those who value ethics or altruistic Machiavellianism, it can be reasonably justified.

Of course, religion is like any corporation or government; it can be co-opted and corrupted by those who do not wish to serve the public good by submitting to the purpose of the organisation – but who use their position to fulfil their own purposes in spite of the organisation. We call a betrayal of such systemic significance corruption. Corruption in a civilizational context is effectively the sabotage of societal infrastructure for self-gain; in spite of the fact that society is reliant upon such infrastructure, as indeed is the person exploiting it.

Very few want to be martyrs, and those up to the task would, in my cynicism, only be puppeted by those pretending to serve the public good whilst only really serving themselves. Ironically, to do good, one must be very competent in the strategies commonly employed by “evil.” If “evil” has anything going for it, it is that it does not leave anything to chance. Such a thing is so rare with “the good” that a man of strong moral convictions adept in the strategies commonly associated with “evil” is scarcely encountered. Thus it is such that very few believe in the moral Machiavellian, although such a thing is not common and the business of power is inherently dirty, it is my contention that such men exist in small numbers.

Naturally, powerful knowledge carries a certain taint. The more you understand about the realm of cunning, the more likely you are to employ such things, for power is inherently irresistible. You probably sought such knowledge due to powerless in the first place, and often the powerless are more neurotic than the powerful, but when the powerful know not when to stop – this is incorrect.

Whether one uses their power for altruistic or sadistic purposes effectively defines whether the Machiavellian in question is moral or immoral in character, but as sadism reinforces narcissism, it is my thought that the latter is more typical. If one has guiding principles they consider superior to their ego, they can be considered a moral Machiavellian. Nevertheless, such people must guard such principles from public view, for these principles are the individual’s Achilles heel and will be exploited by those who do not share them.

You can read the rest here:

http://illimitablemen.com/2015/06/20/morality-and-machiavellianism/

If you read all of this post, go straight to paragraph 1 in section 2.

I'm also doing a monthly mailbag from now on, in case you didn't see it, here are the details (link shows the original AskTRP thread):

https://archive.is/G0sQS