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Politics: The Corruption Curve
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Great men are almost always bad men." (Lord Acton)
We all like to think of ourselves as kind, honest, and
benevolent. In our hearts, we are convinced that should we ever
attain personal power, whether through building our own
business, rising to the corporate executive office, becoming
extraordinarily influential in our area of expertise, or in
winning public office, we will continue to be honest and
ethical, incorruptible to the end.
The action of wielding power varies greatly with the individual
involved and the extent of power obtained. We are all familiar
with the petty tyrant at work who rules a tiny business empire
with greed and self-indulgence, bullying underlings without any
sense of fairness or mercy. We have seen the research scientists
who have forged a reputation over a lifetime fall into disgrace
through subverting results to support their theories and their
sponsors.
As the extent of power increases, we see the Enron and Lincoln
Savings brand of tableaux unfold. Not only does that same greed
and self-indulgence hold sway, but the concept of being above
the law arises and accountability and trust are jettisoned from
the boardroom. The more esoteric the lifestyle becomes, the
greater the disconnect between the powerful and the rest of the
world. Those who lack power are to be cheated, manipulated, and
drained of their possessions - surely only just desserts for
their failure to rise to the top.
In a world where hereditary monarchies are an anachronism, the
most absolute power lies in the political sphere whether wielded
by a military-backed dictator or by those who have been so
repeatedly elected to office that they no longer see themselves
as public representatives but as entitled oligarchs of a system
they control.
The presumptuous ambition of one man, Julius Caesar, led to the
destruction of a republic that had guided Rome to the heights of
civilization. The empire he created held the seeds of its own
destruction in its descent into the unrestrained autocracies of
a string of less than illustrious rulers who wielded their
absolute power with caprice and personal whim.
The framers of the Constitution had a vision of a government
where no such unconstrained power could arise because of the
checks and balances inherent in the system they devised. No one
could be above the law because the rule of law was paramount.
The advise and consent required from different branches of
government ensured that a multitude of voices and philosophical
ideas were involved in any major decision.
But those who drove the development of our constitutional law
were giants in their own right. Washington's refusal to accept
the title of king, advocated by several of his supporters,
signaled his rejection of too much power concentrated in one
individual. His peers - Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Madison, and
many more - followed the same course: divide power to ensure
that the needs of the many can be met through a myriad of
representative voices.
Over the centuries, the checks and balances they built have kept
the ship of state afloat. Occasionally listing to port or
starboard, the sheer multiplicity of participants in the
political process have been repetitively able to pull it back to
an upright middle course. Certainly, there have been many dark
periods of corruption and incompetence. We face such a darkness
now: individuals in office for too long, with too much power
within their grasping fingers; too many officials who have
forgotten that they are public servants, developing a mindset of
entitlement and the conviction that they know, better than
anyone else, what is good for the public who, after all, elected
them.
Only the rule of law, so carefully crafted more than 200 years
ago, can keep them in check. The lawful prosecution of a
congressman accepting millions of dollars in bribes, of a
congressional leader who used election money as he saw fit
rather than as the law required, and administration officials
who destroyed a woman's career and jeopardized the lives of
covert operatives all over the world, restores balance in a
world rife with corruption, greed, and overweening pride.
Ongoing investigations into the honesty of leaders in evoking
the need for military intervention and the rising voice of
dissent against financial favors for the rich and powerful at
the cost of cutting services to the powerless poor, offer a
glimmer of hope that the corruption will be curbed and the
hubris of our leaders punctured and exposed.
The embattled defendants cry foul, claiming that the only
transgression is the political ambition of their critics. They
have moved so far beyond the pale of the common citizen that
their own corruption and misdeeds seem entirely ordinary and
acceptable to them.
Happily, unlike the impotent rubber-stamp Roman senators, we can
face our would-be Caesars without threat of bodily harm and we
can cast them out of their cozy nest with the most powerful
weapon ever devised: the ballot box.
About the author:
Virginia Bola is a licensed clinical psychologist with deep
interests in Social Psychology and politics. She has performed
therapeutic services for more than 20 years and has studied the
effects of cultural forces and employment on the individual. The
author of two interactive workbooks: The Wolf at the Door: An
Unemployment Survival Manual and Diet With An Attitude: A Weight
Loss Workbook, she can be reached at her Social Psych Blog
Virginia Bola, PsyD
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