Friday, February 26, 2010

Corruptive Power.

Power is capable of becoming corrupt. Power mostly begins as corrupt, because those who wanted power in the first place are corrupt individuals. If you have power, you need to have responsibility. With great power, comes great responsibility. You are responsible for running a particular country, government, or group. When you abuse your authority that is when power becomes corrupt. You can abuse your supremacy by creating a mass superior race, and murdering all those who do not fit your standard. This is what Adolf Hitler did. In today’s world, people feel they can rise to power because of the freedoms we now have. It is hard to suppress the smart, corrupt individuals who strive to be in control.
Adolf Hitler is a great example of how power can be corrupt. Adolf Hitler rose to power because he had military background and strong will. Several factors contribute to the qualities that a person has to possess in order to become powerful and uphold a powerful position. Military power is one of the strongest powers in the world. People with military training know how to be tough, and ferocious. If a wrong idea is sparked into their heads, corruption can occur. This ultimately leads a person to use their strength and power for the completely wrong reasons. Adolf Hitler was a dictator that restrained his people by making them live in fear. One thing we wonder is what if Adolf Hitler didn’t become corrupt? Would he not have thought that he was superior to everyone else? Would he not have displayed genocide and killed all the people that he did? Probably, but corruption has a beginning and an end. Power can either take the road leading to corruption or the high road to demonstrate humane power.
In contrast, Alexander the Great is a core example of how power did not corrupt. He had his mind set on conquering the world. Alexander’s father was murdered by the Persians. This sparked his revenge and he began the journey to conquer the world as he knew it. Alexander travels through Troy and ends up at Gordian, where he cuts the foolproof knot. Alexander becomes valued as a king. The Egyptians saw him as a god because Alexander’s main goal was to destroy the Persians. Alexander the Great felt it was his job to kill the Persians for murdering his father. This shows a little bit of evidence of corrupt power, but it’s more of a moral fixation. Alexander was doing the “good” thing, for the “wrong” reason. Continuing his journey, he journeys to Persepolis, the ancient capital of Persia. This is where Alexander fights Darius at Issus. Darius is deceived by own his men and hands over the land of Persia to Alexander on his last breaths. In due course, Alexander the Great conquered much of what he set out to do. He wanted to triumph over all and rule the world. He did just that with barely any corruption at all.
Ultimately, Alexander’s power did not corrupt. Anyone really has the ability to become powerful. What they choose to do with that power is what worries the people of the world. Take the United States president for example, or the Queen of England. So far they have humanely ruled but in a short amount of time that could all change. The President could abuse his power and become a dictator, and the Queen of England could order all non-British born people to be executed. We as humans should hope to uphold a peaceful world where power is never corrupt. Although power has been corrupt or is corrupt now, we should strive for the future to be corrupt free.

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