I strongly disagree that they're evil. I have had the book for about a decade, and while I consider myself a low-power individual - that is, unaggressive in pursuit of my goals - I've found it a great aid in understanding the dynamics of many situations, as well as knowing when someone is exercising a power play against me or trying to manipulate me in some fashion.

Sure, it's not '48 laws of harmony and cooperation'; I think it's a legitimate authorial technique to challenge the reader and push them out of their comfort zone - and yet the book is abundant with examples of how greed and hubris can lead to a sticky end. The book seems to generate strong reactions in a lot of people, both those like yourself who say it's evil and from others who say it's too wishy-washy (one hard-charging person I mentioned it to derided it as '48 laws of brown-nosing'). I wonder if you have read the whole thing? If not, why not borrow it from the library, saving yourself the emotional conflict over whether to enrich the author, and give it a full read.

The fact is that it's a competitive world, and attempts to improve upon human nature often turn out to have serious negative consequences; apparently benign beliefs such as christianity can become vehicles of horrid repression. Better, then, to improve the world by securing for yourself the freedom to do so in peace than by wishing away the facts of life.