Let's Talk About Power

Today I figured I’d talk about power a bit. A few weeks back, an acquaintance of mine posted a Charlie Chaplin quote and then commented on it. The quote was, “You need Power, only when you want to do something harmful otherwise Love is enough to get everything done.” Said acquaintance then said that she disagreed. She further stated that grasping for power is okay so long as it’s done for the greater good of society. I found that rather interesting and not in a good way.

Power is best thought of as a red-hot sword. You can grasp it momentarily to wield it to great effect. However, every second you hold on to it is another second that sword has to burn you. If you hold it too long, it inevitably consumes you. Human history has illustrated this point over and over again. Yet despite this, despite watching ruler after ruler turn into despot after despot, we still have the anointed among us who think they’re somehow special. That they, unlike all humans before them, will somehow wield power justly without being consumed.

This acquaintance that I mentioned is one of those special people. She has a graduate degree, and she knows that she’s smarter than your average bear. She’s also relatively attractive and in good shape. She also makes a fair amount of money thanks to her occupation. All of these things acting together seem to give her the sense that she is someone who can wield power without screwing it up. It’s people like her who are the most dangerous. The people who think they can be trusted with power are the ones who should never be let near it.

When I think of a good leader, someone deserving of wielding power, George Washington and Jesus come to mind. Good old George because he did something almost impossible. When approaching the end of his second term as president, instead of running for a third term, he elected to leave office, setting the two-term precedent. George was in a unique place in history. He could have been King of America if he’d been so inclined, yet he walked away from power. If that isn’t greatness, I don’t know what is.

Since typing that last paragraph, I also thought of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. He did something very similar to George but years earlier. So, if anything, George copied Lucius I suppose. At any rate, as the story goes, two times Lucius was given supreme power in Rome. Each time, he held on to such power no longer than absolutely necessary. In the first case, he used it to conduct some decisive military action. In the second case, he used it to prevent Spurius Maelius from becoming king of Rome. The full story is worth the read if you have time.

Then there is Jesus. According to Christian theology, he’s the incarnated God of the universe. That would imply that he has unlimited power. During the night in which he was betrayed, right before his arrest, Jesus’ disciples were prepared to fight for him to keep him from falling into the hands of the Sanhedrin. However, when swords are drawn and ears are loped off, Jesus says something interesting. “’Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?’” Here he has the power to enact his will. Jesus is holding the burning sword, yet he chooses not to wield it for his own personal benefit.

For those of you curious, a legion was typically 6,000 soldiers. So, Jesus threatened to call 72,000 angels to aid him. From what I can scrape together on the internet, it looks like there might have been around 125,000 Roman soldiers in the provincial Roman army. Even if Jesus just summoned 72,000 men, that would be enough military power to conquer the whole Middle East probably before greater Rome could mount an appropriate response.

At any rate, these three men demonstrate the proper posture when dealing with power. It should be grasped as if you’re picking up something dirty. Held for the minimum amount of time possible. And discarded as quickly as you can find another person with the same attitude. Only by passing around the hot sword like a hot potato, can power be used in a matter that’s not completely destructive. The Lord of the Rings and the One Ring to Rule them all is basically exactly this.

So, in conclusion, although I’m sure my acquaintance meant well in what she said, she basically outed herself as a bit of a fool by saying it publicly. Hopefully, she never gets the sword of power. If she does, hopefully, she puts it down before it burns her.