Hunger as a Tool of Power

Keep the people poor and preoccupied. Exhausted bodies have no strength for rebellion.

A hungry man dreams only of bread, never of dethroning princes. The overworked laborer

craves sleep, not justice. Give them just enough to survive, never enough to

thrive, and they remain docile— grateful for scraps. Prosperity is poison

to unchecked power. The well-fed grow curious. Idleness breeds questions.

Security invites demands. Leisure forges conspiracies. Comfortable citizens begin to ask

why they bow— and soon, they refuse to bow at all. Machiavelli understood

this: desperation enforces obedience, while abundance awakens defiance.