Essay number six: by The Midnight Writer

Power Corrupts

From the beginning of time until the end of time it will be forever true. Power corrupts no matter how well intended the purpose may be. The balance between the need for leadership and the abuses that come from that leadership will require a constant vigilance.

It doesn’t matter where that leadership is placed. A politician, a religious leader, an educator, a union leader or a business leader will become corrupted over time. The temptations offered by holding power over others are frighteningly seductive.

A civil society requires leadership to function but the need to restrict their power must always be the primary concern of all who are being governed. Leadership should be considered an unwanted burden rather than a desired goal. It should always be viewed as a temporary necessity to be passed on to another at the proper time. Anyone in a position of leadership should be under the constant scrutiny of the governed and be easily removed when abuses occur.

For leadership to be effective all citizens must assume the responsibility of educating themselves and making their concerns known to the leadership. The rights and privileges of the individual must always be protected above all other rights. It is from the individual rights of every citizen that all other rights are born. Any attempt to abuse those individual rights will corrupt the entire system. An absolute commitment to this principle must be deeply engrained in the mind of everyone placed in a position of leadership.

No position of leadership should ever be given more power than is absolutely necessary to perform the task assigned to that position. A well informed citizen should understand that the best solution to any problem will be found closest to the people and not to the leadership. Keep it simple and keep it local.

Never agree to surrender your responsibility to another person believing it will make your life easier. Life doesn’t work that way. Surrendering your responsibility to another will only lead to dependency and eventually slavery. To be all that God intended for you to be you must assume responsibility for all of your thoughts and actions. To lighten your load by giving your tasks to another will only subject you to the control of the person who assumes those responsibilities. That is a situation that should be avoided whenever possible.

All agreements between people should be entered into with mutual needs and considerations. When those needs become corrupted the agreement should be corrected or severed.

The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were the first to try to implement the concept of restricting power. They were on the right path but their efforts fell short because they failed to recognize how corrosive the power of leadership would be even on the most righteous people.

The addiction to power is stronger than all of the addictive drugs in the world combined. It has been the cause of more death, destruction and suffering than any other force known to mankind and will continue to destroy until it is understood and brought under control.

A lust for power creates one of the most dangerous forces imaginable. It creates people who think they are superior to others. It creates an extremely dangerous ruling elite. God save us from the fool who wants to control our lives.

George Washington saw some of these dangers and tried to warn us in his farewell address when he warned against the power attached to political parties. There is a need to reexamine the efforts of our Founding Fathers and address the mistakes they made when they failed to protect us from the abuses spawned by a Ruling Elite.

The time has come to examine the wisdom of all the ages. We need to develop a governing system that removes the dangers of creating a ruling elite in all aspects of our lives. The creation of a ruling elite should be viewed as the greatest threat to the freedom of mankind.

I cannot speak out loudly enough against the formation of a ruling elite. We should be doing everything we can to remove power from the ruling elite and return it to the individual citizen where it belongs. I know of no better way to achieve this than free market capitalism. This will be a reoccurring theme in later essays.

Perhaps we should change the concept of leadership to the idea of having guides. Guides should be directed by our common interests rather than their own ego or selfish desires.

To sum up my thoughts on the corruptible forces surrounding power I will state the obvious. Limited Power, Limited Power, Limited Power!