Off the eastern coast of India in the Bay of Bengal reside a people on North Sentinel Island … primitive, reclusive, hostile, … and violent. In 2018, a Christian missionary named John Chau attempted to contact the Sentinelese and spread the Gospel. The last confirmed sighting was of his dead body being dragged away by two Sentinelese men, never to be recovered.
Known and revered as a great and fearsome warrior, ambitious in his quest to unify the feudal land and culture under the single kingdom of China, from 221 to 210 B.C. Ch’in Shih Huang Ti ruled an empire greater and more powerful even than that of the Macedonian boy-king Alexander. However, in the latter part of his life he was rarely seen, moving through his royal palace comprised of more than 200 pavilions via a network of secret underground passageways, sleeping in a different room each night. Part of his quest for power involved banning the teachings of Confucious – a virtual religion across the many feudal kingdoms – ordering the writings burned, any followers beheaded. This decree created many enemies, and over time he grew terrified, even paranoid, of potential threats, and walled himself off from the very kingdom he had created. He left the palace grounds infrequently and in disguise; during one excursion to visit his provinces he suffered a sudden illness and ultimately died in obscurity, far from home, frightened and alone, while his advisors implemented policies without his input, approval or knowledge, and possibly even plotted his death.
More than one thousand years before the birth of Christ, the Myceneans and the Trojans were locked in battle, ostensibly caused by the cuckolding of the Grecian king’s brother by the son of the king of Troy; Greek legend claims that the Trojan prince Paris and Helen, wife of Menelaus, ran off together, and caused King Agamemnon to try to restore his brother’s honor by starting a war. Ultimately, after a decade of battle, the warring groups reached a stalemate due to the impenetrable nature of Troy’s defensive outer walls. The Myceneans feigned retreat, but left a huge wooden horse as a tribute to one of the Greek gods. And rest, as they say, is history.
Isolation, at first blush, appears safe. Building a fortress, digging a moat, and surrounding oneself with high walls seems perfect to ward off attacks. Yet outside of those walls, plans are made to breach those defenses. Without information, vulnerability is absolute. Through immersion in the crowd, mingling among friends and allies and enemies alike, one can use others as both shield and source of information. Power does not exist in a vacuum; it requires information, connection, and contact with others to seed, maintain, and flourish.
In the mid-17th century, French nobility began to chafe against the ruling monarchy, which had weakened their influence as well as the power of the judiciary. Following a series of revolts the bourgeois resistance was eventually crushed, with Louis XIV enjoying absolute authority as the king of France from 1643 until his death in 1715, the longest-reigning sovereign in European history. To consolidate his power, Louis XIV built the Palace of Versailles, the opulent seat and symbol of France’s power. In the literal center was the king’s bedroom, and all activity surrounded and passed through the king. The nobility resided in apartments, the proximity to the king’s bedroom an indication of the occupant’s favor and prestige at court. Every morning the king entertained a procession comprised of his children, illegitimate and trueborn, valets, officers, jesters, surgeons, officials, courtiers and nobility. All sought the king’s advice and counsel; his response an invariable “I shall see.” A look, a gesture, a well-placed word from the king would increase a person’s stature; similarly, for those members of the aristocracy who refused residence at Versailles, or whose presence was infrequent or rarely seen, Louis XIV’s distain and ostracism could destroy.
There was no privacy at Versailles, no isolation, no distance from the activities of court. Every room led to another with everyone and everything constantly on display. Squabbles were commonplace; however, rather than fomenting plans for war, the aristocracy quibbled over who got to carry the king’s robes. Lous XIV – the Sun King – was a fervent student of history, and learned that the prior revolts emanated from the ranks of the rich, the aristocracy, the nobility, and by keeping his friends close, and his enemies closer, he ensured no such similar uprisings would occur during his reign.
The existence of the Sentinelese continues solely at the whim and pleasure of modern society. They are a people without power; should some governmental body decide to … forcibly induce them into the present age, the only resistance available to them is death.
Machiavelli observed that a fortress is but one siege away from becoming a prison, and rather than offering protection, it constrains power and creates an identifiable target. Inside a fortress, everyone knows where you are. Humans are essentially social creatures, and power is a uniquely human creation; thus, power relies upon and invariably grows from access and being accessible, and true power lies in openness and sociability, on controlling who you have access to, and who has access to you. To become powerful, and to leverage power, one must become the center of attention and activity, in the manner of the Sun King at Versailles. While one need not have an entire community traipsing in and out of one’s bedroom, one must engage in social circulation for information, opportunity, and position.
Cicero, a Roman statesman born into lower nobility, achieved the heights of power via intimate mingling throughout the Roman aristocracy and amassing myriad connections … an enemy here was neutralized by an ally there.
The 18th-century French aristocrat Talleyrand liked to visit the underbelly of French society, engaging brigands, whores and thieves into his cabal of informants while directing Napoleon’s foreign affairs.
German-born Henry Kissinger survived five U.S. administrations via his vast network of connections around the world, invaluable and irreplaceable.
Isolation leads to a loss of proportion, a narrowing of focus and thought, a disregard of the larger picture in favor of minute detail. However, isolation is valuable in one respect, as it relates to power – for introspection, and considered thought. Machiavelli devised The Prince while in exile, far from the political and social machinations of ancient Florence. It is well-neigh impossible for deep thought to occur in a hustling, bustling crowd of activity and noise, but one must be cautious not to remain isolated for too long, as it becomes harder and harder to return to society after leaving it for an extended period.
For all his wealth, influence, and public exploits, Howard Hughes was a recluse at the end of his life and died virtually alone, without family and few friends. Thus, for the sake of power, always maintain a path that leads back to the wider social circle.