Why I Hate The 48 Laws of Power (And Why I Might Secretly Love It)

I’m in a book club, and every month, we read a business book and discuss it together. Recently, we selected Robert Greene’s best-seller The 48 Laws of Power.

I’d heard of the book and was curious to read it. Then I got a copy and found out what the book was actually about. It shouldn’t have been a surprise from the title — the book is about power.

But the book’s approach to acquiring power was disappointingly outmoded and misguided. Reading reviews of the book, I saw that people were decidedly split — some people loved the book for its “directness” and “realism”; while everyone else panned the book as “crazed” and “borderline evil.”

Despite disagreeing with the book, I’ve been fascinated by it. The 48 Laws of Power has sold over a million copies and is widely read by celebrities. How can so many people fall for the book’s flimsy premise and empty promises? Is this really how the world works?

Then I realized something that might just change everything and might mean I actually love this controversial best-seller.

Why The 48 Laws of Power Sucks

In the book, Robert Greene describes the most cliched and manipulative means of grabbing power. It’s the opposite of what most common sense and…