The saying goes that Absolute Power, Corrupts Absolute.
The saying is pretty self explanatory - it is states that any person, if they have complete authority, and complete control of a situation, they will, in time, become corrupt.
A more complex explanation can be seen in governmental systems. In a democracy, this eventuality is circumvented by a constitution and a concept called the 'Three Pillars'.
The Three Pillars of Government are the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. The president and his/her administration represent the Executive, the Legislature takes the form of the US Congress or the Indian Lok Sabha and the Judiciary are the various houses of Justice. Each pillar is essentially equal from the perspective that they keep the other pillars in check and ensure that neither side gets too much power or oversteps its boundaries. However, some governments like to tweak this system of pillars and so you might find that this does not necessarily apply to all countries.
A dictatorship, however, is a perfect example of how Absolute Power, Corrupts Absolute. Any dictator, regardless of their initial intentions will at some point of time make that shift where they begin to become corrupt.
The best example of how a singular ruler, not a monarch, became a dictator is Julius Caesar. Caesar was part of a triumvirate which, though informal, balanced out the power and kept the others in check until they got greedy and Caesar emerged as the sole ruler of Rome. Now, whoever has read the Shakespeare play (though not historically accurate, provides a good backing) knows that the reason for the conspirators to kill JC was because he was beginning to be viewed as a corrupt individual. He was silencing people that were speaking out against him, and taking over powers and roles of the Senate.
When I cast a line back, and look at the most influential people (in my opinion) and what they have done with that influence, a pattern emerges.
Gandhi can easily be cited as one of the most influential individuals of the last century, he lead a country to independence through non-violence and had the entire nation at his beck and call - Quite literally, as when he did call for a hunger strike, most of India would stop and take heed. However, he was very careful to keep as far out of the political process as possible. Stories say that he was offered the Prime Ministers post, but chose to not accept it.
Now I am not as well versed in history to know why he did not take the post, and I won't speculate (If you know, please enlighten me) however, of what I have read of Gandhi's past, in the Congress when he had issues with Subash Chandra Bose, he used his influence to push Bose out of the party. So it comes to show, that even a man as 'good' as Gandhi was not free from the influence of Power.
Another man, Nelson Mandela, was also an inspirational figure for his nation and helped march them towards independence, however, different from Gandhi, he did take up the post of President in the newly elected government of South Africa. Why was it different for Mandela? I feel that is was primarily because of the situation that Mandela moved them out of, a time of discrimination and divide. Had he taken up the post of President and misused his powers, he would have thrown his country back into the past. So what you could say is that Mandela's mission, for a better South Africa was more important to him than any power that could possibly tempt him.
So what makes these two people different? Maybe it's a question of integrity? Or maybe it is knowing what would happen to you if you got that power.
I know what would happen to me if I got any kind of power.
It's taken me a long time to realize it and I'm rather sad at the conclusion.
I feel, from the bottom of my soul that if I had no supervision, if I had a chance to be in charge and have everyone listen to me.
I'd go mad with the power. I'd lose myself in it. I'd become a horrible person.
I find that my reasons for this analysis come from a number of things. Video Games, School Life and Personal Relations.
Video Games: These things are amazingly fun, and as a person who has spent a lot of time playing First Person Shooter Games, I know that what Videogames create aren't militants who will shoot up schools, but rather Control freaks and Alpha Males/Females. People who are used to being in control of a situation, people who are able to turn off the power if the situation gets too complex. Multiplayer has a huge amount of competition and a desire to come first. I mean if you are going to play for fun, then why play? People, and I used to play to win. When I lost, it hurt, it made me want a rematch. When I won, it was awesome, I wanted to rub it in peoples faces. However, when I saw someone else, someone younger than me do the same thing; get so agitated about winning a video game I began to see that it was at the end of the day a game, and games are to be enjoyed.
School Life: I won't lie, some people might say I had a good life in school, but honestly it was shit. I had grown up not being a bully and wasn't about to change. However, this did make me an easy target in a new school and sadly, it was a label that seemed to stick. For 5 years things were rather pathetic really, and in my last year of school, in 12th Grade, I won the Student Council elections and got a position of power and respect. There was where I realized the potential I had, the potential to come up with crazy, amazing ideas and also the potential to hold deep dark grudges against people and not want to earn respect, but rather demand respect. This scared me, it scared me as it showed me the paths that I could travel down. A path of brilliance or a path of hate.
It in fact very much inline with two stories.
The first story is from the Origins of Heracles, Heracles was a shepherd when he realized that a sheep was missing from his flock. Setting out to find the lost sheep, Heracles was presented with a choice by two Nymphs, Pleasure and Virtue (although some stories also speak of Janus) they gave him a choice of pleasant and easy life, or a severe but glorious life. Heracles chose virtue and became the Greatest Hero ever, but suffered more than most men could ever possibly consider. The Choice of Heracles is an ethical one, but the end message to me is that we are all presented with various options, and it is up to us to decode which one is the easy one out and which one is the tough choice, but the right choice.
The second story is actually more of a passage, which can be excellently described by this awesome work from zenpencils.com
The second one is actually hits home much more than the other story. Because it is only though your actions that you become reassured in what you are doing, and you justify yourself by making the same wrong choices.
Personal Relations: I've realized that as a person I am in a constant state of flux. I am in a constant quest for solace, but have a burning desire to be with my friends and loved ones. I want to be the leader and make the tough decisions, but still will want everyone to be happy and not hate me. I want to be comforted but will at the same time shrug off the comfort and possibly mistreat it.
In college, I've had ample opportunities to be a leader, to make decisions. Most of these decisions have lead to mistakes, severe, severe mistakes. Learning experiences, certainly, but evidence enough that I am one person who would certainly grow corrupt from even the slightest amount of power.
I mean, the other day, I was talking to a batchmate of mine, from the first year in college and they flat out told me, "Yeah, last year you were an asshole, Like a HUGE asshole"
I shall elaborate,
When college started, I took it upon myself to do certain things; coordinate the clubs, create the Student Council and do stuff for college. I thought I was doing the right thing, I thought it through and justified myself completely and said that I wasn't doing anything wrong. However, it was only after I had someone dear to me start to point it out to me was I finally able to realize that I was really being a mini-Hitler.
Believe it or not, whenever I would tell my school friends about what I was up to in college they would always reply with howls of laughter and call me Hitler, and a Dictator. Still it took me another 3 months to understand what I was doing. Crazy right?
So when I look back on the past year, and specifically to a post that I wrote shortly after my college held Student Council Elections where I did not get elected and I was rather bitter about it. I must say while I still hold strong opinions on that subject, I am glad that it did happen as it gave me the ability to come up with new ideas and projects without the slightest chance of me wanting or being able to usurp power (I wouldn't be able to, cause I wrote the charter)
This time has taught me that there is nothing better than a good idea. And that when you are in a situation like a college, or an office and you have an idea. You can be at the bottom of the food chain, but an idea will always be able to go the distance. Power is nothing without the will and the idea to drive it.
That being said, I still get scared of what might happen if I got that power.
The good thing is that by know that I can be corrupted, I can keep the amount of power available to me in check.
Here's to not becoming the next Great Dictator!
The saying is pretty self explanatory - it is states that any person, if they have complete authority, and complete control of a situation, they will, in time, become corrupt.
A more complex explanation can be seen in governmental systems. In a democracy, this eventuality is circumvented by a constitution and a concept called the 'Three Pillars'.
The Three Pillars of Government are the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. The president and his/her administration represent the Executive, the Legislature takes the form of the US Congress or the Indian Lok Sabha and the Judiciary are the various houses of Justice. Each pillar is essentially equal from the perspective that they keep the other pillars in check and ensure that neither side gets too much power or oversteps its boundaries. However, some governments like to tweak this system of pillars and so you might find that this does not necessarily apply to all countries.
A dictatorship, however, is a perfect example of how Absolute Power, Corrupts Absolute. Any dictator, regardless of their initial intentions will at some point of time make that shift where they begin to become corrupt.
The best example of how a singular ruler, not a monarch, became a dictator is Julius Caesar. Caesar was part of a triumvirate which, though informal, balanced out the power and kept the others in check until they got greedy and Caesar emerged as the sole ruler of Rome. Now, whoever has read the Shakespeare play (though not historically accurate, provides a good backing) knows that the reason for the conspirators to kill JC was because he was beginning to be viewed as a corrupt individual. He was silencing people that were speaking out against him, and taking over powers and roles of the Senate.
When I cast a line back, and look at the most influential people (in my opinion) and what they have done with that influence, a pattern emerges.
Gandhi can easily be cited as one of the most influential individuals of the last century, he lead a country to independence through non-violence and had the entire nation at his beck and call - Quite literally, as when he did call for a hunger strike, most of India would stop and take heed. However, he was very careful to keep as far out of the political process as possible. Stories say that he was offered the Prime Ministers post, but chose to not accept it.
Now I am not as well versed in history to know why he did not take the post, and I won't speculate (If you know, please enlighten me) however, of what I have read of Gandhi's past, in the Congress when he had issues with Subash Chandra Bose, he used his influence to push Bose out of the party. So it comes to show, that even a man as 'good' as Gandhi was not free from the influence of Power.
Another man, Nelson Mandela, was also an inspirational figure for his nation and helped march them towards independence, however, different from Gandhi, he did take up the post of President in the newly elected government of South Africa. Why was it different for Mandela? I feel that is was primarily because of the situation that Mandela moved them out of, a time of discrimination and divide. Had he taken up the post of President and misused his powers, he would have thrown his country back into the past. So what you could say is that Mandela's mission, for a better South Africa was more important to him than any power that could possibly tempt him.
So what makes these two people different? Maybe it's a question of integrity? Or maybe it is knowing what would happen to you if you got that power.
I know what would happen to me if I got any kind of power.
It's taken me a long time to realize it and I'm rather sad at the conclusion.
I feel, from the bottom of my soul that if I had no supervision, if I had a chance to be in charge and have everyone listen to me.
I'd go mad with the power. I'd lose myself in it. I'd become a horrible person.
I find that my reasons for this analysis come from a number of things. Video Games, School Life and Personal Relations.
Video Games: These things are amazingly fun, and as a person who has spent a lot of time playing First Person Shooter Games, I know that what Videogames create aren't militants who will shoot up schools, but rather Control freaks and Alpha Males/Females. People who are used to being in control of a situation, people who are able to turn off the power if the situation gets too complex. Multiplayer has a huge amount of competition and a desire to come first. I mean if you are going to play for fun, then why play? People, and I used to play to win. When I lost, it hurt, it made me want a rematch. When I won, it was awesome, I wanted to rub it in peoples faces. However, when I saw someone else, someone younger than me do the same thing; get so agitated about winning a video game I began to see that it was at the end of the day a game, and games are to be enjoyed.
School Life: I won't lie, some people might say I had a good life in school, but honestly it was shit. I had grown up not being a bully and wasn't about to change. However, this did make me an easy target in a new school and sadly, it was a label that seemed to stick. For 5 years things were rather pathetic really, and in my last year of school, in 12th Grade, I won the Student Council elections and got a position of power and respect. There was where I realized the potential I had, the potential to come up with crazy, amazing ideas and also the potential to hold deep dark grudges against people and not want to earn respect, but rather demand respect. This scared me, it scared me as it showed me the paths that I could travel down. A path of brilliance or a path of hate.
It in fact very much inline with two stories.
The first story is from the Origins of Heracles, Heracles was a shepherd when he realized that a sheep was missing from his flock. Setting out to find the lost sheep, Heracles was presented with a choice by two Nymphs, Pleasure and Virtue (although some stories also speak of Janus) they gave him a choice of pleasant and easy life, or a severe but glorious life. Heracles chose virtue and became the Greatest Hero ever, but suffered more than most men could ever possibly consider. The Choice of Heracles is an ethical one, but the end message to me is that we are all presented with various options, and it is up to us to decode which one is the easy one out and which one is the tough choice, but the right choice.
The second story is actually more of a passage, which can be excellently described by this awesome work from zenpencils.com
 |
| Click to see it BIG! |
Personal Relations: I've realized that as a person I am in a constant state of flux. I am in a constant quest for solace, but have a burning desire to be with my friends and loved ones. I want to be the leader and make the tough decisions, but still will want everyone to be happy and not hate me. I want to be comforted but will at the same time shrug off the comfort and possibly mistreat it.
In college, I've had ample opportunities to be a leader, to make decisions. Most of these decisions have lead to mistakes, severe, severe mistakes. Learning experiences, certainly, but evidence enough that I am one person who would certainly grow corrupt from even the slightest amount of power.
I mean, the other day, I was talking to a batchmate of mine, from the first year in college and they flat out told me, "Yeah, last year you were an asshole, Like a HUGE asshole"
I shall elaborate,
When college started, I took it upon myself to do certain things; coordinate the clubs, create the Student Council and do stuff for college. I thought I was doing the right thing, I thought it through and justified myself completely and said that I wasn't doing anything wrong. However, it was only after I had someone dear to me start to point it out to me was I finally able to realize that I was really being a mini-Hitler.
Believe it or not, whenever I would tell my school friends about what I was up to in college they would always reply with howls of laughter and call me Hitler, and a Dictator. Still it took me another 3 months to understand what I was doing. Crazy right?
So when I look back on the past year, and specifically to a post that I wrote shortly after my college held Student Council Elections where I did not get elected and I was rather bitter about it. I must say while I still hold strong opinions on that subject, I am glad that it did happen as it gave me the ability to come up with new ideas and projects without the slightest chance of me wanting or being able to usurp power (I wouldn't be able to, cause I wrote the charter)
This time has taught me that there is nothing better than a good idea. And that when you are in a situation like a college, or an office and you have an idea. You can be at the bottom of the food chain, but an idea will always be able to go the distance. Power is nothing without the will and the idea to drive it.
That being said, I still get scared of what might happen if I got that power.
The good thing is that by know that I can be corrupted, I can keep the amount of power available to me in check.
Here's to not becoming the next Great Dictator!
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