Why do people want power? What’s the big attraction? I’ve
never understood why someone would want what’s obviously a poisoned chalice.
You may think you can have a lot more control over your
life, but in many ways you have less control. People will criticise you, abuse
you, belittle you, want things from you. Your every move is scrutinised and
judged. You may have responsibility for hundreds or even thousands of people
and one fatal mistake can have awful consequences.
Who needs it? I’m more than content to have no power at all
but simply to enjoy my life. I’m happy to be an anonymous powerless nobody.
But for some people power is their big goal in life,
something they can’t get enough of, something that justifies any sort of mean
or malicious behaviour – like sabotaging
anyone who’s their rival for power.
It’s sad to see people who have gained power wanting to hang
on to it indefinitely. They become addicted to being flattered and fawned over,
and the prospect of once again being nobody in particular terrifies them.
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I definitely wouldn't want my every move to be criticized and watched, not something that I would want at all.
ReplyDeleteMary: I'd hate being criticised and watched. I prefer to be unseen and un-noticed.
DeleteI don’t get it either. You can never really have a day off, and I like lots of days off.
ReplyDeleteSx
Ms Scarlet: That's true, you wouldn't have a day off because people would always be demanding something from you.
DeleteNo thanks.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: My sentiments entirely.
DeleteI also wonder why everyone doesn't choose to live a simple life. The acquisition of power is unseemly at best.
ReplyDeleteColette: Yes, I prefer a simple life. Why load yourself with unnecessary burdens?
DeletePower invariably leads to wealth. If wealth already exists it can lead to power and more wealth. Too much of both brings forth a psychosis of indestructibility. My personal thought is if those seeking more and more and more weren't already, they become something like psychotic.
ReplyDeleteSandra: True, the very powerful are often psychotic in the way they treat other people.
DeleteAn activist said Lord Acton's quote actually begins, "Power has a tendency to corrupt..." I sometimes think that the reason the knights of old, as I learned in Boy Scouts, would do someone a good turn every day was to mitigate their tendency to be corrupted wearing their invulnerable armour.
ReplyDeleteSean: The knights of old had the right idea!
Delete