NationStates Jolt Archive

Does power corrupt? Or are corrupt people more likely to get into (or at least aim for) positions of power?

That is, does power lead to corruption, or does corruption, in fact, lead to power?

Maybe a bit of both?

Right now I'm firmly on the side of 'corruption leading to power' being more inherently correct than the other way 'round.

But of course, I'm biased...

A bit of both, but I don't think either is a rule. There's lots of people that haven't been corrupted by power. We just conveniently forget them because they don't get on our nerves nearly as much as corrupt people.

I'm willing to test the theory.

All I need is a little omnipotence, and we can all find out if I'll be corrupted by it, of if I'll remain the same....er... actually, I'm already rathr corrupted, aren't I? :p

Power doesn't corrupt - it only tends to corrupt, according to Lord Acton :p
But absolute power is another matter....

There's lots of people that haven't been corrupted by power.

Name one! But first, maybe we should define corruption...

yes power corrupts. or as super-power said it at least tends to and you have to fight against it.

we are imperfect people. no one is immune to doing the wrong thing now and then.

Name one! But first, maybe we should define corruption...

Corruption is relative.

By my definition...An uncorrupted person in a position of power? Jimmy Carter. Two more: Harry Truman and FDR.

absolute power corrupts

Power itself does nothing. It is the desire for power that corrupts. The best dictator would be someone who did not want the job. The same is true of politicians. However, nearly all politicians, to date, have been such because they desired power. There are a few exceptions where the desire was to right some perceived injust (real or not).

It is difficult to see the crusader as corrupt, but the career poitician nearly always is.

Power corrupts, but I think that some people remain correct. But they are saints, and they're rare, obviously.

Madison Gas and Electric sends me their bill every month . . . and I remain relativly uncorrupted.

Corruption is relative.

By my definition...An uncorrupted person in a position of power? Jimmy Carter. Two more: Harry Truman and FDR.

You're absolutely correct, because I think trying to intimidate supreme court justices is corrupt.

I don't think power so much corrupts as it magnifies previously held personal defects. It's one thing to lust after your neighbors wife when your ned nobody . . . but when you have a billion dollars and run the worlds largest nation, it's another. The increased power didnt lead to your corruption, it merely expedited its fulfulliment.

Depends on how much power you are afforded now and how much you had before is what leads to corruption.

The reason power corrupts is because it goes to your head, and you begin to think you can do anything. Power is like a drug, and it will make you think like an addict: "I need more power/money/power." You can't become corrupt before you come into power, unless you already came from a position where you had enough power to advance to more power. If you have power, you will want more, that's it, but only generally speaking, of course.

when things not intented to get power get power, they become corrupt. things intended to be powerful are not corrupted as it was planned that way. examples would be the american government for non-intended and spain under franco's rule for planned.

"Power Corrupts, But We Need Electricity"
-Archer's Goon (Diana Wynne Jones)

:P

Seriously, I don't think power corrupts or the corrupt get power that much, I think everyone's flawed and if you find their weakness, they'll become corrupt. So I think Harry J Truman isn't seen as corrupt because no-one found what would make him desperate enough to become corrupt.

If one of you has an incurably ill relative or friend, ask yourselves how many innocent people you would kill to save them. You'd be suprised.

Define corrupt. I think that power makes people believe they are invincible, look at all the stupid things powerful people do because they think that they won't get busted. Of course people who run for president don't do it for the money, in the US its just $200,000. Not much, compared to what some people make. Both Bush and Kerry have plenty of money. No, they do it for prestige, for power. I am sure W. Bush did it partly because his dad did. But I believe people seek offices mainly for power.

I think they should have a lottery with every single voter, being simply put in office for say six months. Their powers would be severly limited(not being commander-in-chief for one!) and they would just be their to balance the rich politicians out.

This would never actually work, you would get nuts in all shapes and sizes. But you would most likely get some really good people who are not millionaires or older white men.

I think power corrupts, but many are already corrupt.

Yes. I can't resist quoting Mikhail Bakunin on this one:

If you took the most ardent revolutionary, vested him in absolute power, within a year he would be worse than the Czar himself.

I'm a believer of 'men's hearts are deceitfully evil'.

Power doesn't corrupt. Power is ability.

You can be corrupted even though you have no power. Though it's harder to show how corrupt you are.

It's like money. You can be a cheat even though your broke. But if your rich, it's easier to get caught, and more obvious that your a cheat.

Definately power corrupts. Eventually, someone who gets enough power will begin to do things he/she couldn't do before and get away with it because of their new power. Its just human nature I guess.

Depends on how one views the idea of corruption. One mans great use of power is another's misuse of it....

"It is not wealth and power that corrupt men. It is the clinging to wealth and power that corrupt men." - Buddha

I stand by that.

I'm reminded of Dune at this point:

"Power attracts the corruptible. Absolute power attracts the absolutely corruptible."

Name one! But first, maybe we should define corruption...

Cinncinatus?

Does power corrupt? Or are corrupt people more likely to get into (or at least aim for) positions of power?

That is, does power lead to corruption, or does corruption, in fact, lead to power?

Maybe a bit of both?
Power doesn't corrupt, the love of money and what it can buy corrupts. Power is only the means some people think will gain them more money more easily.