The 48 Laws of Power

A review of Robert Greene's unintentional shadow work journal

It was March in Sydney. I'd just arrived on a work trip, jet-lagged and frazzled, yearning for some grounding and quiet.

At check-in, a sunny concierge handed me a complimentary coupon for an infrared sauna at the gym across the street from the hotel. I'd only ever seen those in TV shows. I decided to go.

A few minutes in, a woman around my mother's age entered. I did my best to avoid small talk, but as is often the case with me, it had the opposite effect.

We discussed her cousin's house on the outskirts and her senior dog, Chloe. I can't say if it was something about our surrealist setting, but everything she said seemed captivating. She made a book recommendation. And that evening, I downloaded it onto my Kindle.

The book was The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. 

*deep breathe*

Here's a sampling:

Is the red and blue subliminal marketing?

Over 200 pages of plain-speak, Greene beckons you to be a sort of smarmy lizard person to get ahead in the world. It is a disquieting read.

The book has courted controversy - it is banned in several U.S. prisons. But it has also sold over a million copies.

When I first attempted to read the book earlier this year, I felt a visceral, righteous disgust and quickly put it down. "That lady must be insane!" I thought.

But a few nights ago, while browsing YouTube, I came across this video featuring Robert Greene and Andrew Huberman. Greene was not the typical gym-bro I expected him to be. He had a somewhat awkward, scholarly demeanor that I did not immediately dislike.

I re-opened the book again to see what it said. And it then struck me that all it does is take a cold, hard look at the human psyche and the structures of our world. And name the problematic truth that all humans are, at least in part, self-serving, greedy, jealous, and manipulative. 

Greene contends that the world is fundamentally Machiavellian. The real dynamics of a situation do not lie on the surface or in what people vocalize. Instead, they reside beneath the surface, in the unconscious motivations that drive people.

This is not bad - this is part of being human. Much of social life is a performance. We sometimes laugh louder than we mean to and give insincere compliments. We love nothing more than to be seen and validated, but we pretend to be humble. And this is a hard one - but we often feel pleasure and bind together while watching someone else in pain. 

This shit is not misanthropic. It is universal. The French, Chinese, Japanese, Germans and Greeks all have words and aphorisms for it.

The 48 Laws of Power is triggering because Greene shines a light on our hidden and repressed character traits. It is unintentional shadow work. Green’s book is a bitter pill, and a device for greater self awareness. Hopefully, we will one day evolve enough to outgrow it’s advice, and it can become the type of literary relic that future generations marvel at.

I have faith in Gen X.

Can’t wait for therapy next week.