You have piqued my interest, so I uh, acquired, the 48 laws book and read through the 1st rule.
Firstly, I like how the book is structured. Easily digestible bits that can be studied and applied as the need/interest arises.
Secondly, He really piques my interest by describing "human politics" more like a hack than general backstabbery (which it is).
But one has to admit one has to do a fair amount of rationalization that all this is "ok" to be doing. At the end of the day it's a manual for stepping on other people. The argument of course being that this is necessary to avoid being stepped on yourself. No matter how you slice it, it does delve head-deep into moral grey areas, which is interesting to say the least, since there are people out there doing it and being able to spot the "players" could be invaluable. I find it fascinating.
It once again highlights aspects of the world one can explore much more thoroughly lacking a omnipotent being to supervise. But it also exposes the dark subject matter of human nature. A place a lot of people would be squeamish to go.
ps. It's not lost on me, the way I started this post, that I should not be one to make moral judgements.
"Monkey killing monkey killing monkey over pieces of the ground, Silly monkeys, give them thumbs, they make a club and beat their brother down. How they survive, so misguided, is a mystery. Repugnant is a creature who would squander the ability to lift an eye to heaven, conscious of his fleeting time here" - Tool