The Desire for Power

The Desire for Power

 

We would like to think very positively about ourselves and about human nature in general. The the legal system and the religions of the world would have been unnecessary if we were naturally good. Man has always got everything maneuvered to his own advantage, always keeping the flag of morality flying high for him, pretending to be the epitome of nobility and goodness. We have preached to others what we have never done ourselves. In fact we have often done the reverse of what we have preached. Given anonymity man is capable of doing the worst. The desire to be powerful is only the steppingstone to enable ourselves to do what we desire, even if that means the ruin of someone or something good. People are naturally not good; it is the pressure of society that makes us behave properly. But society is formed on the basis of what the most powerful consider necessary to continue their way of living. It is a vicious circle in which we come together to retain our ways of remaining powerful and keeping the other in a weak position. The ones that get power pass off as good; the ones that don’t are often criticized for not being good enough.