THE EMPEROR'S NEW THROES

I guess I’m in one of those moods. The kind where you sit back when things are less hectic and your mind decides to punish you for the retreat by filling your brain with questions you’d rather not think about.

In this case I was thinking about power. And how truly crazy this world is because of it. Now admittedly I am in my city a person with a certain degree of power. Some of which is illusion, but the part I wish was illusion isn’t.

In that sense I’m speaking of the issue of choice. And to adhere to the title a bit let me speak of the concept of an emperor as anyone with the power to make things truly happen and how much choice plays an integral part in that reality.

Essentially whether you inherit power or manage to take it away from somebody else there will be a circle of influence that comes with this power. That is the place of choice as I see it.

Which is where I think the old saying “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” applies the most. For just having the power to make choices that influences others isn’t the problem. It is when you get so obsessed with making choices to constantly flaunt your power that causes problems.

I know I’m hardly saying anything new in that regard. We all have been down the road of dealing with someone that takes his or her authority to an extreme. And I do wonder if our reaction is more out of anger or jealously. Not that I expect anyone to answer that. I merely point out the times when in some situations there is a rebellion against power and the new leaders end up just as abusive of their power as the last person.

So is there a way to solve this problem? I can think of a few options. One is to figure a good way to control the person in power’s options. That’s a good idea, just not very feasible. There isn’t much likelihood of somebody thrust into a position of power saying something like “Hey I know this will go to my head so I only want to be powerful to a certain degree.” Yep dream on in that sense.

Why did I even bother with this reflection? I guess entertainment I suppose. I love the contradiction of how we herald a new “emperor” when they get anointed in some part of the world. And then express shock and outrage when he or she goes through the throes of letting the power corrupt them. I’m not sure in that regard who has the bigger problem, the person who has the power or the one how gripes about it.

It is sort of like clinging to any assumption that a politician will ever act as anything except a politician. When they get elected they do the same with power as anyone. So how come we act shocked when they do what comes naturally? Like I said maybe we need to ask the simple question if our reaction is outrage over the behavior or more envy because we didn’t get the chance to do it ourselves?

I guess you’ll have to answer that one yourself. Or do like I do and not think about it whenever possible.