The power of love or the love of power?

The love of power seems to be winning when it comes to big politics and world issues here now. But there are also many examples when it comes to the power of love. These examples tend to be way smaller. Way smaller than I want to take over the world.

But still worthwhile.

a reply to: droid56

Jimmy said,"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."

originally posted by: 3daysgone
a reply to: droid56

Jimmy said,"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."

Jimmy is smart. Be like Jimmy.

Remember, kids, LOVE TRUMPS HATE! ... and then we riot.

originally posted by: droid56
The love of power seems to be winning when it comes to big politics and world issues here now. But there are also many examples when it comes to the power of love. These examples tend to be way smaller. Way smaller than I want to take over the world.

But still worthwhile.

The problem with love in the world is human nature:

"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton

If we do not understand why people become so corrupt, our government will never work in our favor. We need to understand why is there so much corruption by our leaders and a complete lack of respect for the public trust.

I read this really interesting piece of psychological research on the causes of corruption called "the metamorphic effect of power". Not only does power corrupt, be even worse, having power changes the powerholder to have "contempt" for those they have power over. Once the powerholder has this contempt, the powerholder no longer sees their subordinates as people deserving of any human respect. Instead, the powerholder sees their subordinates as worthless ants that can stepped on without any moral consequence. This idea of having power over others will change a person's psyche is very important. It's only by having awareness of this effect that its negatives can be avoided.

Here's a really good analysis on the idea:
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"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." So said Lord Acton, and most anarchists would agree. Any hierarchical system provides positions of power which are sought by the worst sort of people, namely the ambitious, unscrupulous and ruthless. Furthermore, even if by some chance sensitive and honest individuals obtain positions of power, they can quickly become corrupted. This is the experience with governments, corporations, churches, political parties and other institutions.

But why does power corrupt? For the answer, it is worth consulting the excellent work by David Kipnis, a professor of psychology at Temple University. He has carried out numerous experiments showing just how power corrupts.

For a person to be autonomous is widely considered to be a good thing. It is a feature of being fully human. When a person exercises power over others, the powerholder gains the impression that the others do not control their own behaviour or, in other words, they are not autonomous. Hence, they are seen as less worthy. In short, a person who successfully exercises power over others is more likely to believe that they are less deserving of respect. They thus become good prospects to be exploited.

For example, Kipnis organised experiments in which a "boss" oversees the work of "subordinates" in a simulated situation. The experiment is contrived so that all subordinates do the same work. But the subordinate who is thought to be self-motivated is rated much more highly -- for exactly the same work -- than the subordinate who is thought to have done the work only under instruction. As well as laboratory studies, Kipnis examines the effects of power on the powerholder through studies of couples, managers and protagonists in Shakespeare's dramas. The results are always the same.

Kipnis follows through the implications of such evidence in a number of areas involving technology, including medical technology, workplace technology and the technology of repression. For example, technologies for surveillance or torture serve to control others: that is the obvious effect. But in addition, the psychology of the powerholder is changed when the technology promotes the reality or impression that others lack autonomy. Those
subject to the technology are treated as less worthy, and any prospects for equality are ruled out.

Kipnis rightly points out that few studies have looked at the effects of power on the powerholder. He has done an admirable job of redressing this imbalance.

As a result of his investigations, Kipnis is quite pessimistic about solving the problems of power and the technology that reinforces it, precisely because the usual prescriptions ignore the effects of power on the powerholder. It seems, though, that Kipnis is unaware of anarchism and the longstanding anarchist critique of all forms of hierarchy.

However, this gap need not detract from the value of Kipnis's studies for anarchists. Besides the points mentioned above, he deals with tactics of influence, use of rewards, inhibition of the exercise of power, motivations for power and other corruptions of power. This work bears close study by all who want to understand better the psychological dynamics of power."
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Raising people's awareness of how power changes the soul is not an easy task. But I believe unless human nature is understood and kept in check government will always reduce to its lowest form or what we have now. You would think with all our space-age technology that we would be able to design a system of government with all the necessary checks and balances to ensure corruption does not become the norm. There is a very strong reason why most of the cameras in a casino are pointed at the money handlers and not the customers. If casinos are able to develop an effective system of self-governance I have to imagine the government can do it also.

a reply to: dfnj2015

It was one of the reasons government was meant to stay smaller and local instead of large federal monolith where much of the power was concentrated in a bureaucracy that never really interacts with the people.

When the officials have to interact more and more often and more intimately with those whom they are supposed to serve, it gets harder to separate from them.

Additionally, when the corruption does crop up, it was easier for people to move away from it or at least, the damage was localized instead of inflicted on the entire country.

a reply to: droid56

Huey Lewis knows the power of love.

If I'm not mistaken, the power of love originates in the heart of rock and roll.

It's still beating, don't worry.