“Power without a nation’s confidence is nothing”
—Catherine the Great
New-born babies are just helpless creatures who are totally dependent upon their parents or caregivers for every biological need. If left unattended, they would not be able to survive as happens with the many infants found abandoned. This lack of control over themselves so early in life perhaps carries the germs of yearning to exert control as they mature. The first step they take while trying to balance themselves brings exceptional mirth and joy, not only to themselves but to all who are closely watching their moves. As they gain further strength and hold over their bodies, they are subjected to more adult commands as to their conduct and behavior. In short, this takes on the shape of a cycle of control and management that perpetuates over generations.
Is the desire to control built into human nature? Research suggests that the idea of control is nothing but a delusion and is meant to keep things static. Nonetheless, many people around us are bent on influencing our lives. They are keen on managing the slightest of issues—sometimes to the extent of our thought process too. They can be our parents, spouses, siblings, friends, bosses, or even our offspring. They enjoy dictating their terms which may include the style in which we conduct our life, schedule of activities, educational plans, future careers, and marriages, and may go deeper in interference with our matrimonial lives as well. This is done either through gas-lighting that can inculcate fear or with love and affection capable of cajoling others into submission without them realising the true nature of manipulation.
In our everyday lives, the lust for power is visible in all spheres: from small families, and big corporations to the political arena. One person or a handful of persons are seen vying for the position of control—whether it be an authoritarian father, a dominating mother, a domineering teacher, a sadistic spouse, or an officious senior at the workplace. There is no respite from persons who just want to thrust their will on others forcing them into submission. Many times, such an attitude, particularly when it is at the governmental level causes the suppressed to become victims of mental disorders and/or physical ailments that can eventually lead to social unrest or chaos. A society is sick because its members are sick.
Through the centuries, battles have been fought, precious lives lost, kingdoms vanquished, peace disrupted, families torn apart, people abused in ways beyond imagination, civilisations uprooted, industries destroyed, and the environment polluted with unthinkable diseases erupting on account of atomic and chemical weapons—all because a single person’s love for power becomes the obsession of his followers—his partners in crime. Edward Gibbon’s “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” contains a thought-provoking passage: “Of all our passions and appetites, the love for power is of the most imperious and unsociable nature, since the pride of one man requires the submission of the multitude”.
A look around the world would reveal the many faces of oppression wearing crowns and placed in high positions both internally and across borders. Instead of spreading light, these creatures of darkness inject their toxins into both the people and the earth-shaking the foundations of humanity and upsetting the environmental applecart
Having said so, one cannot ignore Niccolo Machiavelli’s words: “Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions”۔ Even though his reference is to the public at large but it does not mean that the powerful should take advantage of the innocent.
This passion for being in the forefront, becoming the center of attention, and giving undue importance to oneself in total disregard to how others may perceive and feel, is nothing more than selfishness, which by the way is very different from the concept of self-love. While the former is essentially destructive in character, the latter tends to evoke positivity which is extremely vital for a healthy social environment. Whereas the former is capable of destroying, the latter induces self-preservation by rigidly observing social duties to attain social virtues, such as peace and harmony. As selfishness with its myopic vision erodes social virtues, a mild government can be converted into a most despicable form of tyranny together with its supportive self-serving lackeys who, for their short-term benefits, are quick to abandon the interests of the people who brought them into power.
However, this is a deceptive environment where one is compelled to live a perpetual lie. Whether it is the government or its stooges, they indulge in befriending their supporters and remain bent on crushing anyone who has the slightest capacity to hurl obstacles in their ambitious path and lust for power. Although historians around the world have penned countless treatises narrating the consequences of tyrannical administrations, this insanity and human depravation continue to prevail unabatedly knowing very well that where free-thinking exists, those are perhaps the most peaceful, progressive, and prosperous places.
Wherever accountability is present in a system, the idea of unchecked control can hardly flourish but when a pact is made between criminals and murderers to acquire power to cover up felonies then it triggers a continuum of dictatorship, masked under the garb of democratic values. Since power is active and distrustful, it needs to fortify itself by eliminating all forms of opposition and carrying out its nefarious motives. The purpose is to defeat dissent and perpetuate its rule because liberty is its greatest enemy.
A look around the world would reveal the many faces of oppression wearing crowns and placed in high positions both internally and across borders. Instead of spreading light, these creatures of darkness inject their toxins into both the people and the earth shaking the foundations of humanity and upsetting the environmental applecart. Armed with unbridled power, they think only about themselves, focusing on finding various means to curtail the independence of free thinkers and flag-bearers of liberty.
“There is poison in the fang of the serpent, in the mouth of the fly, and in the sting of a scorpion; but the wicked man is saturated with it.” — Chanakya