Abuse of Power.

lol Elmud, you trying to start a free for all brawl in here?

Now,,,,, you know very well Gosh, that I would not do that. Just trying to inspire a little informative thought here. Like my good friend Conrad Dobler, I just want to know if it tastes great, or is it less filling.

Hi Elmud,

Your title, Abuse of Power, is a much broader subject than corruption. However, your reference to Lord Acton's dictum indicates we should confine our discussion to just this one form of abuse - corruption.

Acton was active in the affairs of his church and aimed his dictum at a papal proclamation with which he did not agree. He said: "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Still, stretching the dictum to fit secular politics seems useful and reasonably fair. We just need to remember that Acton's fixation on "absolute power" arose from concern about the authority of a supreme dictatorial leader - not about the authority of an elected democratic leader.

We may also need to remind ourselves that, in itself, power is not bad. It's essential. How could our representatives in government ever accomplish anything without it? (And, incidentally, we should not blindly assume that all who have absolute power are corrupt.)

In the climate of doubt and fear that grips us nowadays, I think we Americans see more political corruption than actually exists. We see it every time the representatives we have elected take from us or give to others. We see dishonesty in every mistake. We see every bribery opportunity as bribery committed. We judge the honesty of politicians based on whether they increase our social security or reduce our taxes. We believe we reduce corruption when we substitute inexperienced "outsiders" in place of our experienced politicians. Et cetera, et cetera.

All that fear, almost hysteria, is not justified. The prescient founders gave us a government with good checks and balances to restrict corruption. And, as shown in the world-wide indices, our democracy enjoys one of the best (lowest) corruption ratings. One study rates the U.S. as having less corruption than 262 of the 280 nations surveyed.

That is not to say we can overlook the briberies and corruptions when they do occur - the depressing cases of Tom DeLay, Rod Blagojevitch, and the others. We definitely need to inject more restrictions and transparency into our political empowerments. We particularly need to free our representatives from their dependence on campaign donations from special interests groups
.

The dispensation of power is a dangerous pocess. It's like fertilizer. We can use it to save our world from starvation. Or we can use it to blow us all to smithereens. It must be handled with extreme care.

* * * * *

I hope these thoughts are not too far off the subject you had in mind when you invited responses. I'll appreciate any comments from you or others.

In the UK-politicians taking our hard earned cash and using it for totally inexcusable things.

Caroline how could you deny a man his duck house?How we can ever recover from this i dont know.xris

Hello Elmud,
Thanks for the thread. IMO, corruption is associated with power because that is where it began. It is a depravity that is fed by gluttony. That is evident by the decaying of morality which is in it simplest terms, a sense of sharing between all humans. Corruption is everywhere. It is invasive and disturbs anything it "invades". Our language is corrupt. in that is has become so ambiguous it is impossible to understand to derive any truth from it. Just as our minds and bodies have been corrupted.

It is all about control. The most "efficient" way to control is to disarm your opponent both mentally and physically. then offer a predetermined solution that enhances that control. Sneaky, huh? It's called deception and guile both powerful tools of corrupt individuals and we are all guilty to an extent. It is not that we "must" adhere to the solution, we are defenseless to do otherwise lest we fall prey to that power that "controls" us for we will be punished. Does "master/slave" ring a bell? Such can be illustrated by the every popular phrase between a parent and child, "..if you don't mind me you will be punished". It really starts at a young age because it is so "popular" to be corruptive and it started with a popular interpretation of God. "Thou shalt not....." and the rest is history. Of course God can't be corrupt, so it must be a natural "order" of things. We do like "giving" orders, don't we. Mandates, ultimatums, decrees and so forth.

I can dance on any limb of the tree you choose and the answer will alway be the same. We are rift with corruption. We are eat up with it. Power (ego) is un-sharing as it dictates to "do no wrong" as if it knew what "right" was. It it knew what was "right" and shared that knowledge, there would be no need to control or be corrupt. "You can control all the people, some of the time; you can control some of the people all the time; but it is impossible to control all the people all the time, unless all are corrupt which lies in the description much quoted "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Bad news all the way around and "lights out'.

It started with the "illusionary' power of gold. A useless element that has corrupted t he mind of man for so long it predates history. The only way we will every see the light of day is to break away from it's imposed, invasive, hypnotic and corrupt influence. IMMHO.

William

I see abuse of power to be the resultant condition wrought when someone in a position of influence uses their authority for strictly personal gains to which they're not otherwise entitled by virtue of their office.

Yeah. I think that most politicians start out wanting to do the right things . Serve the people etc. But, I think the many temptations just wear some folks out. Probably beat their heads against the walls trying to make a difference but, it ain't happenin. So, the ole go along to get along eventually comes into play. Its hard to swim upstream. Go against the grain. Walk the narrow road. Who the heck knows.

We do. We just need to communicate a little more clearly. We are getting there. It will just take a little time is all. That's what this forum is all about. Isn't it? A world gathering. Nice.
William

Yeah, it's tempatation, i think i would be very tempted myself but that can easily be prevented by monitoring or something.

It's called a very good and benovelent version of "Big Brother" in a way that does not invade the privacy of an individual. It's called "taking care of each other. IMO:)

William

Lol.
Yeah I'll get over it, it just irks me sometimes, well everytime I see my tax bill but i got a reduction in my rent today so things are looking up!

Monitored by who Caroline?

I don't think that power corrupts. I think that anyone who wants power, such as people who run for public office, are already corrupt. How can someone who wants power be trustworthy?

I'd create an independent body to regulate a system that keeps checks in place to help prevent obscene expenditure.

Not everyone in positions of authority, are untrustworthy.There are some who consider this position one of service.

So they say. But that doesn't change the notion that with authority comes power to make decisions that affect peoples' lives. Frankly I can't trust someone who thinks that they are better capable of making decisions for me than I am of making them for myself.

Three of us in a boat and we have problems who decides our direction and what we fish for..humanity is destined to be in conflict until our will is subservient to our needs.