Men who do not work are dangerous for the state

Men who do not work, who have no profession, are dangerous for a State. This is the thesis that Machiavelli supports in his Discourse on the First Decade of Titus Livius. Thus, for example, rentiers, who live only from the fruits of their possessions, also represent a threat to the Republic.

This reference is interested in a Sciences Po copy insofar as it immediately gives a political aspect to work, to the profession.

To explain what I mean by a gentleman, I will say that it is called all those who live without doing anything, from the product of their possessions, and do not engage in agriculture, nor in any other trade or profession. Such men are dangerous in any republic or state.

Machiavelli, Discourse on the First Decade of Titus Livius, I, Ch. LV

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