Power Corrupts

by Per Bylund

The history of man is a history of rule or ambition to rule. It is not, as
Marx claimed, a history of constant class struggle between bourgeoisie and
proletariat, even though class struggle may be derived from the fundamental
division of society into “rulers” and “ruled.” An important part of this
history is
the continuous “race to the top” among self-centered power seekers, trying
to gather as large a number of subjects as possible to rule.

As is shown by Lord Acton’s famous words of wisdom that “power corrupts,”
what characterizes the history of man is the corrupted leaders blinded by their
power and might. Throughout history, monarchs, religious and ideological
leaders, as well as elected presidents go crazy. The French king Louis’ XIV
claim “
L’Etat, c’est moi” (I am the State) is typical to the leaders then and
now.


Power does corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Lord Acton did
not, however, identify the meaning of power and corruption fully; his
“truth”
is only a half truth.

Great men and women coming to power may use it wisely, and bring peace and
prosperity to the land as in the Disney sagas. At least for a very short while;
the real kings and queens of history have truly been tyrants oppressing the
people to gain personally in prestige or wealth. The ones called “the Great”
are worse than the other rulers in the subjection and killing of “ordinary”
men; winning many wars (read: killing a lot of people) does not make a man
great;
on the contrary, it shows his inability to use his intelligence and to
reason.

The wars between countries (read: states) throughout history are
overwhelmingly started not because of pressure from the people. The men in the
kingdoms
were the ones being slaughtered in the kings’ wars, and the women, children,
elderly and disabled were left to take care of their chores on the farms as well
as all the men’s. And they were all being heavily taxed to finance the wars in
order to gain prestige for their ruler.

Some (civil) wars were nevertheless started by “the people,” but it has
through the years only been used as a final resort to get rid of a much too
oppressive ruler. Most civil wars have nothing or almost nothing to do with the
people; they derive from either a ruler’s attempt to force his (it’s usually
a
man) subjects to obedience, or a power-seeking aristocrat seeking to increase
his powers.

The same is true in our “civilized” time; no wars have been started because
it is a just war supported by the people – it is always the chiefs of the
state making the decision. War has always to do with an attempt to increase (or
somebody’s attempt to reduce or take over) the powers of the chief: Hitler
aimed
to increase his powers by increasing the size of Germany; the Soviet leaders
wished to rule the world under communism; Iraq’s Saddam Hussein tried to put
Kuwait under his rule; the Serbian leader Milosevic wanted to increase his Serb
domain; and George W. Bush sought to stabilize his presidency through
invading Afghanistan and Iraq.

The “power game” has reached its peak during our age, the age of democracy.
With democracy, it is in everybody’s theoretical reach to gain power over
everybody else, indeed making society an eternal struggle between individuals
and
groups for power. Marx would have been correct in this “power struggle” if
he
had seen the 20th and 21st Century democracies, but he never saw democracy in
full.

The ordered and organized society of history has thus weakened in favor of
the power struggle in democracy. This has also unleashed the power-seekers
throughout society. These people, corrupted to the very soul with their
pathological quest for power, have in democracy a foundation from which to
enslave their
fellow men.

The part of the truth Lord Acton did not realize when stating “power
corrupts”
is that the corrupted seek power. Only people not able to grow tall from
their own efforts and achievements seek to subdue their fellow man; only people
not being able to find comfort in their own mind seek to silence others; those
who are unable to produce their own wealth aim to confiscate the wealth of
others.

Power does really corrupt, but it is as true that corrupt people seek power.

Per Bylund is the founder of Anarchism.net and the founding editor of the
Swedish Libertarian Forum, a radically libertarian magazine published quarterly.
He currently studies Political Science at Lund University in southern Sweden.
He was the coordinator of the Walks for Capitalism in Sweden in 2001-2002,
within which he published an anthology about capitalism featuring famous
Swedish writers, philosophers, and politicians--as well as Margaret Thatcher and
Wendy McElroy.


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