48 Laws of Power: Let The World Do Its Thing

BOOK REVIEW

By Amber Gaskins

AFTER listening to the ten hour audio book, 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, I came to

the conclusion that power is an outdated concept. The laws all summed together just scream

manipulation and loneliness. When it ranges from dim your light for your master to not

committing to anyone to having to be careful of every word you say it starts to sound like a setup on how to become estranged from the world and become a power-hungry maniac.

The book mainly focuses on the laws with historical context, outdated examples. In the

times we live now, we have new technologies, more careers, just different ways to live a

successful life. So why follow a book that does not relay more present day examples? To be fair, 48 Laws of Power was published in 1998, now 28 years ago. We have witnessed that drastic change can happen in two days. The date of publishing itself demonstrates how outdated these laws are and how a more recent version would be beneficial in today's economy.

A good example of this is law sixteen, where people use their absence to increase their honor. This means making your presence less, and making people yearn to see you more. If we were to tell this piece of advice to someone who wants to become an influencer, we would be leading them astray. To gain that influencer power, presence is high in demand. The TikTok Rewards program even suggests that creators should post three times a day.

Isolation is not a key to power, it is a key to loneliness.

The true law to power, in my opinion, is to focus on your happiness. True power is not

allowing anyone to interrupt your stride of life. It is not having to watch every move your friend

makes or anticipating betrayal. Someone will betray you no matter what, it is a part of life,

unfortunately. However, we have to allow the downfalls in life to occur, and that is how we know what makes us happy.

When staying on high alert, inviting those whose company you do not appreciate around you, or having to guard your reputation with your life; it gets tiring. What person of power is that tired? Or scared?

My one law of power would be to focus on yourself and let the world do its thing.