it all goes wrong with power

[miriam_e]

I was connecting a whole lot of things I'd been thinking about lately -- talks I'd heard, conversations I'd had with friends, news items, and stuff I'd read and realised that the old saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is so right.

Last night I listened to the Big Ideas radio series. Last night's talk was heart-rending. Canadian Stephen Lewis spoke about the causes of the problems with Africa (he is UN Secretary-General’s special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, a commissioner of the World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health, and director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation). Hearing of the way incredibly wealthy reaganomics idealogues used absolute power to crush small, weakened countries was horrifying. Admittedly these people thought they were helping those countries by imposing "monetary reforms" upon them, but the brutality of the impositions and the way they for decades refused to look at the massive evidence that they were having the opposite effect to what their theories dictated is mind boggling. Millions of people died and continue to die because a small number of people have absolute power. The program repeats on Tuesday at 1pm, or you can listen to it online with (ugh!) RealPlayer at http://abc.net.au/rn/bigidea/

Also on Sunday I listened to Background Briefing which was about Argentina's recent restoration of a healthy economy through doing the opposite of what the right-wing economic rationalists preached. Unfortunately though, there are signs that president Kirchner may be getting drunk on power, is subverting the media, and stacking political candidates in his favor. With more and more power it is feared that he will eventually repeat the same old cycle of destruction. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/

And there is the recent news that employers haven't wasted any time after our illustrious lying little rodent prime minister tore up protection for employees. Already employees are being fired and re-hired on low wages. But of course "it won't lead to lower wages". Bastards.

It all goes wrong when you give one person power over another.

Comments

[faemortel.livejournal.com]

you need to get a myspace account and add me (http://www.myspace.com/deliriousfaerie):) I miss you, happy birthday soon (if i remember right)

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Excellent memory you have, possum. :)

Yes, I miss you too, and often find myself thinking of you and wondering how you are. I'll get a myspace account for the same reason I got a LiveJournal one... at your suggestion. :)

I owe you a lot.

[ratfan.livejournal.com]

I saw the subject and knew it had to be you :-)

My beloved rats take eeking exception to the "lying little rodent" description, however (g) The worst a rat will do is knock another rat over and stand on him until the other rat says, "Okay! You're boss!"

I agree with you about power seeming to encourage bastardry. The "rehire at lower rates" happened to me years ago; as a casual we have always fallen through the cracks, as permanent employees are now beginning to do.

I wonder somehow how it is that I have very little power, despite being smarter than a lot of the people who do have it. But then, I have never been interested in commanding anyone else at all.

Ratfan

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

:)
My apologies to the rats. I admit to having a bit of a weak spot for rats. "Lying little rodent" is a quote from one of Howard's own party members. It fascinates me that they hate him almost as much as the rest of Australia does.

I think your point about desire for power is very important. Those who accumulate a lot of power are inevitably those who value it above all else -- exactly the wrong people for power. But the problem is more subtle than that too.

I heard another radio piece on the results of interviews with a lot of ordinary people about their driving attitudes. The striking thing was how 4-wheel drive vehicle owners often developed a change where they felt that instead of having to drive carefully, everybody else now had to watch out for them. They felt invulnerable and were conscious of the threat they posed to other drivers. They became power abusers. These were not vainglorious crazed politicians or military leaders -- these were ordinary Mums and Dads. Is that weird or what? It says something very unflattering about us as a species.

I truly think we are getting better though. Just a single lifetime ago, if you said that children, or women, or poor people, or people of other races had rights, then people would have looked at you blankly and just not understood what you were saying. Now people have the intelligence and good grace to be embarrassed by these things. Even hard-core racists are aware of it. Have you noticed that they invariably begin their rants with "I'm not a racist, but..." and that sexists say "I'm not a sexist, but..."?
:)

[ratfan.livejournal.com]

I think you're right when you say we're improving as a species! Not so long ago, the idea of women voting was unthinkable :-) After all, if a woman voted, she would only follow the lead of her husband, father or whoever the male head of her family was. Not so long ago, actually, Switzerland gave women the vote in 1973. The above was their reasoning for waiting so long.

I think the only way to avoid the drunk-with-power scenario that afflicts both politicians and drivers of big powerful cars is to make the job of "power" less attractive. I read that in one country, which I think was Switzerland again, politics is a part-time job and politicians must hold some regular job as the stipend paid them for their "public service" is not enough to support them.

I'm reminded also of Amish society where the election of a bishop is occasion not for congratulations but for condolences to the selected man and his family because of the onerous task they are about to take on. They're chosen by lot, not election as this position has none of the prestige which being Prime Minister or President or Chief Rat has in our world :-)

I guess a lot has to change before we're able to think that way.

And the big powerful cars? Well, I ride a bicycle so I would like to see a day when 4-wheel drive vehicles are limited to being used outside cities where they're actually needed!


Ratfan