Does Power Corrupt?

Power can be so many different things to different people. It has different meanings for them and varied effects on them. Some can handle it while others cannot. Power can be dangerous and, in the wrong hands, lead to terrible things.

Power is the ability to do or act; the capability of doing or accomplishing something; political strength; influence and control. All of these things can be good or bad. Some people can have power and use it wisely. To control power, though, you must have certain traits such as responsibility, self-control, and willpower. Without these power will change you.

While some people can handle power, others cannot. They have trouble handling the responsibility that comes with it and make poor choices. Throughout history, powerful people have become changed by the power they hold. It gives you an ego boost and makes you feel dominant to others. Taking a look back in history to the early America, white people saw themselves having power over African-Americans. They used them as slaves and treated them harshly because they thought they held dominance because of their race. Their power corrupted their views on human life. Yes, power corrupts people, people do not corrupt power.

Time magazine argues a point in one of their articles titled “Does Power Corrupt? Absolutely Not?” As the title suggests, they say that power does not corrupt power; however it does “breed competence”. I completely disagree. Yes, some people can handle the physical and emotional strains that can be put on them by power, but others cannot. They may not be “bad” people before they gain power over something, but it can change them. It can make them do things they would have never dreamed of doing. It can completely and totally corrupt the person holding it.

Power corrupts because human beings are weak. We cannot always resist the temptation of something we strongly desire. If we have power we can abuse it to do things we would not and could not normally do. It can change people into something they are not for something they want. To some people, when they are introduced to power, it is like a person deep down in them, the person that tells them to do what their conscience says no to, comes out and takes them over. They cannot control it, they are corrupt.

Think about a time when you were a kid when you were given power. The little things like when you were given the choice of what to wear and what to eat, and how to decorate your room. Think about Christmas time and around your birthday when you got to pick out presents. It made you feel good. You could pick things out that you wanted. Now, for certain people given a lot of power, such as presidents and government officials, that feeling would be amplified so much that it may drive them wild to a point where they have been corrupted by power.

I have seen many articles besides the aforementioned Time article that argue people corrupt power instead of power corrupting people. Like I have said I do not agree with this. People can abuse power or get a little out of control with it, but they do not corrupt it. It corrupts them. It is similar to a boss at work. They have seniority over you. This gives them power. I’m sure they would not force you to do violent or crazy things like make you rob a bank for them, but they may feel supremacy to a point where they feel it is okay to make you do things for them like getting them drinks or food or doing work for them, even if it is not in your job description.

We are all human and we cannot always control things to the best of our ability. His makes us weak and a target to be corrupted by power.

Works Cited

"Does Power Corrupt? Absolutely Not - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Web. 27 Feb. 2010. .