In any situation that arises, regarding the methods and actions one commits in order to obtain a certain goal, there will always be complications. Whether the final result is just or not, remains to be decided upon by the population encompassing the society and later generations which follow it. However, in order to get to that point, one must do whatever they can to attain the means of which they want. The phrase “the end justifies the means” is one which argues for the idea of how the process is not relevant and the only things which matter are the results. Even in the fast moving world today, people would rather see something simply done and not how it is done. Niccoló Machiavelli believes in this “end justifies the means” concept, but I believe that the issue with it is that others getting hurt in the process while one attempts to attain their goals without the thought of others.
From this phrase, certain individuals who commit unnecessary evils abuse the meaning of it to justify their malice and why it is okay for them to achieve their means; this is due to the innate selfish characteristic in which all human beings possess. It does not matter how noble they believe their cause is or the results they envision because no end is just if the means aren’t just as well. You want this. He wants that. She wants him. The child wants a toy. Students want no homework. Society is dominated by people who want what they can’t have. What we don’t have then becomes a mission that drives us to do anything in our power to accomplish it, even if it may require acts that go against what we believe in or were taught.
The previous statement can then be proven by the history of the United States. America was built off of this idea— the end justifies the mean. We left the rule of Britain for a supposedly just reason which was for freedom, but in doing so, we unjustly took over the land from other persons. By colonizing the lands from the Native Americans, people went against the reason they left Britain. They left for rights but stole the right of land from the native people. Even Machiavelli says this is the worst crime of all because the property of a man is more important than even a man’s life as he exemplifies here, “above all, he should avoid the property of others” (Jacobus 92). These cases are still relevant today with the pipeline situations all across America. Perhaps the most notorious one is the South Dakota pipeline, where we are simply stealing land from the Native people yet again because of our selfishness. This desire to make oil production more efficient has crossed over the lines and taken over the sacred sites of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. America wanted this land and they got it. We got what we wanted, but from that, we hurt the natives by stealing their lives through taking their property and possibly contaminating their resources. We are a society which disregards others when it benefits us.
America is a country that is being dominated by gaming systems. The games we play can come from our iPhone, PlayStation, Xbox, or computers. When we play, our natural competitiveness drives us to do whatever we can to win. The common method one will commit to win is cheat. It can derive from looking at the screen of another player when playing shooting games to find them, using a third party product system to have enhanced abilities, or even messing with another person’s controller. After one cheats and wins, how does the other person feel? We, the winners, feel great because we won, but what about the individual who knew you cheated to win? This hurts their feelings. It is stealing. You stole the win away from them by using any means necessary and leave them, sitting there, in sorrow. There was no fairness. Playing these games nurtures our selfishness and solidifies the idea of the end justifying the mean.
In the end, we can always get what we want. However, was the process worth the success? Is hurting people on the journey towards your goals qualified? One of the worst things a human can possibly do is harm another citizen. Not only can this belief lead to physical pain, but it can also hurt one emotionally. Therefore, I want to make the statement that the problem with believing in the ends justifying the means results in the suffering of others which is a problem we experienced back then and continue to experience still, today.