Violence for equality: lessons from Machiavelli

Should radical egalitarians operating in contemporary capitalist democracies use political violence to achieve their aims? Purely consequentialist arguments provide too simple an answer. Machiavelli's perspective is more complex because it contains both consequentialist and non-consequentialist elements and because of its emphasis on the strictly political costs and benefits of violence. The radically egalitarian ideal of equality of condition is similarly complex but involves very different values and objectives. These generate both moral and political arguments against violence. However, the threat of counter-revolutionary violence creates a dilemma for radical egalitarians that it is difficult to resolve.