This question came up in a forum I belong to. I have thought about power, and the nature of it, for years. I could probably write a book on all my thoughts on this, but I wouldn't do it, because it would bore me to tears.
That need to have power, is one of the things that, to me, is one of the worst things about humankind. The need for power is why many criminals assault helpless people. Anyone who is alone on the top of the pyramid, will do good and bad actions that will affect everyone underneath it.
I hate hierarchies. I know they are, for some reason, necessary, but they still bother me. A Senator of Minnesota, Al Franken (who always makes me grin, btw!), and I, although in obviously different societal roles, are equals as human beings. The label that he is better than me, and the President is better than all of us, is a fallacy.* As humans, although we may not all be equal, we are all of equal value.
And no, humans are not equal, but are equal in the same way (paradox). Humans are unequal in intelligence, survival skills, physical attractiveness, creativity or emotion, but whatever our worst traits are, there is someone who is supreme at them. I don't know that one person should ever rule alone, but, on the other hand, like-minded people with the same backgrounds and experiences shouldn't rule with them either.
I do believe that the US government, from the cities on up to the state's, and to the country, is broken in many ways. Money has replaced the good intentions that set the laws in place.
Money is another paradox, real, but also imaginary. We have assigned value to a piece of paper, or metallic objects, that everyone must use. If currency were mismatched socks, I'd be rich and powerful too.
Do I want power?
I don't know. I have power. I am myself, power. I don't want more power for my own sake, but I would like to fix what is broken. Not for myself, but for the many, many people hurting because of these broken systems.
I wouldn't do it by myself, because I don't think that any one person could. I'd get a team of people whose goal would be simply, "Do the least of actions for the most good." Then I would define 'the most good' because you can't have a blanket statement without definitions.
"The most good, means helping people with basic life circumstances, without discriminatory personal judgment." But as you see, there would be problems with this as well- because even though the concept of good must be defined, it will still vary from person to person. (Some people think that fast food is the enemy - I would consider that a personal judgment.)
The problem is that one answer really doesn't work for every person. And I wouldn't know how to fix that.
But truly, with regards to power, I'd like to have enough societal power someday (including money) to start my own fantasy/sci fi book store, live in my house, and maybe help, in small ways, the patrons of my store. Enough power to be free - of rules that punish me and punish others around me, for not being at a certain place on the hierarchy of society.
And if it were up to me, I would get rid of hierarchies. Impossible, I know, but hey, it's my blog. :p
How would you use power to help others? Or not... would you take power to help others, or just yourself?
All best,
Rose
*Note: Don't tell them that. ;)
