Never Enough Power
Like a burgeoning metropolis, power is never quite enough. The more powerful one is, the more power is needed to sustain and defend it. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The case here is not the amount of power one exudes but the fact that the more powerful one is, the weaker the opponents will be. It is as simple a fact as that. No requirement for a doctorate in rocket science to understand that absolute power is akin to an addictive narcotic. When an individual gains power over other persons, he is in fact enforcing his will onto the other person. When he does this, he is really attempting to show the rest of the world that he is purportedly the better man and henceforth his rightful destiny to be the one giving orders instead of the one receiving orders.
In the democratic political arena, the people of the elected government are those that are wielding real power over the citizenry. Does this make them far superior as compared to the man on the street that elected him? First of all, these people of the government are mere mortals like us and citizens privileged by choice of the people but not by nature and certainly not by right. They are never a class apart and neither are they God’s chosen children even though these people possess the luck and opportunities that propelled them onto the political spotlight.
Nothing is more dangerous for man's private morality than the habit of command. It elevates one’s imaginary perception that nothing can ever be accomplished satisfactorily without him at the helm. It permits that person an overestimation of his own abilities. Make that a habit and a superiority complex will be formed whereby he thinks he can no longer do any wrong and any criticism will be met with denial and retribution. When that does not stop these criticisms, the law is applied recklessly to silent them. This act does not show his feeble attempts at the projection of power (to his immediate coterie of peers) but rather it exhibits his inability to utilise his intelligence to reason.
The history of man is a history of rule or ambition to rule. Wars are fought over it, not so much for the conquered land but for the subjugation of the conquered. Victories foment a lunatic ego sustained by the greed for more power. As the French king Louis’ XIV claimed “L’Etat, c’est moi” (I am the State), he is in reality trying to justify his pathological quest for more power. More so in this Age of Democracy where every individual possesses the opportunity to excel. These corrupted people now have, in democracy, a valid foundation from which to enslave their fellow men, if ever they control sufficient power to climb to the very top.
Power therefore does really corrupt, but it is as true that corrupt people seek power. Morality is never the subject in question. There are no accidental politicians; there is only the avarice for power.
– Hakim Joe
