Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" - John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton Aka Lord Acton

I find myself laughing at this quote. For quite a while I thought that the quote was "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely", quite the difference from the original to be sure.

Recently I have been aware of a different approach to this 'dictum' if you will. If you do have absolute power, that is everything is yours, (you have the power over it) the only thing you can do with it is to give it away(the things over which you hold power)

For those who have seen Star Wars, is Palpatine/Sidious corruptable? I would say No he is not corruptable. Noone can offer him anything by which to corrupt him.

As power, according to Lord Acton, tends to corrupt, I see no reason that absolute power will corrupt absolutely...

Palpatine/Sidious is already corrupted to the maximum amount possible. Note that in this case I am using corrupt as an adjective. Definition a would certainly describe the emperor. Definition b would refer to some of his governors, and senior military officers. Note that definition 2 would also not be out of place for sidious.

corrupt adj
Definition of CORRUPT
1 a : morally degenerate and perverted : depraved
b : characterized by improper conduct (as bribery or the selling of favors)
2 : putrid, tainted

Part of the problem I see with this is the ignorance that develops with centralised control. The greater the power, the more that needs to be processed. With everything getting sifted down to fit in one head to much detail is lost. With everything that grows from just one head too much is missing. Separation of powers is the key. Trust in the self determination of others is the path. Regulation to oversee the process makes it work.

Palpatine isn't corrupt, Sidious is a Sith lord.

The Sith live according to their rule and moral. You can compare it with LeVeys Santanism.
Not entirely, but they basically strive to be a god by all means possible.

It's not corrupt.... It's devotion.

reply to post by Sinter Klaas


I am sure that obummer is a saint according to his own beliefs as well. Doesn't make it so.

they basically strive to be a god by all means possible.

Competition is important for improvement. Conflict is important for destruction. Law is important for this distinction.

So basically it's all a matter of perspective ?

If the dictum is true, that means God would be corrupt wouldn't it?

reply to post by scratchmane

If the dictum is true, that means God would be corrupt wouldn't it?

How do you define god? If god is everything you do not know then it is easy to get lost as you search for it. If god is just everything then it is already sitting inside and all around you.

Originally posted by kwakakev
reply to post by scratchmane

 

If the dictum is true, that means God would be corrupt wouldn't it?

How do you define god? If god is everything you do not know then it is easy to get lost as you search for it. If god is just everything then it is already sitting inside and all around you.

For this thought experiment God is at least defined as having absolute power.

reply to post by scratchmane

For this thought experiment God is at least defined as having absolute power.

Well I can see no more absolute than everything. So god is sitting inside you, me, everyone and everything else. I have my faith in science if we are every going to work this bugger out. I have a few questions for it.

Originally posted by kwakakev
reply to post by scratchmane

 

For this thought experiment God is at least defined as having absolute power.

Well I can see no more absolute than everything. So god is sitting inside you, me, everyone and everything else. I have my faith in science if we are every going to work this bugger out. I have a few questions for it.

But does that make God corrupt?

reply to post by scratchmane


well, if what various religions tell us is true, and god really intends to destroy the world and murder bilions of people just because they chose not to worship him...

i'd have to say YES, god is corrupt, because i can't really imagine anything more "morally degenerate and perverted" than this.

reply to post by scratchmane

But does that make God corrupt?

I see god more as a search at the core. Imagine how hard it would be to make a universe and plan every nitty gritty detail. It would take longer than what the universe would last and all the head bangers along the way. Most people are flat out dealing just with their life, what if you had to take responsibility of all that too, billions of people. God would need some serious psychiatric help dealing with that. Thankfully he does with us.

For anyone to say for absolute certain what tomorrow will bring is delusional. They can make a very accurate prediction but everything has input and anything can happen. Some may even have a premonition, but these are rare events and do not cover everything. The best of plans fall apart, there is always another doomsday just around the corner so people can still have some hope that all their problems would be solved. I would not put any money on it though. God is everything good, bad, ugly, corrupt, beautiful, strange, diverse and every other word in the dictionary. God is a concept we have with life, to help us understand it and guide us through it.

God does not know where he is going as far as I can tell. It does look like he has rigged it so it does move towards improvement, but does not always work out this way. It setup some rules and threw the dice. I only know little pieces of gods limits, capabilities, operations, functioning and other stuff that describe the relationships throughout life. We all have little pieces of this puzzle. I would like to see us all work together instead of killing each other so we can put together more of this puzzle, understand more about life and more about god.

If you no longer believe in things that are absolutely morally wrong, and believe it's all relative, there's no telling which evils you will knowingly commit for the greater good. See: 20th century.

It's not just power that corrupts. If you have power, yet moral integrity, there's a chance you might not get corrupted.

reply to post by 547000


All power needs to be regulated, morals, integrity, values, empathy, respect, honour, caring and love are some of the regulators that the mind uses to limit the ego and other impulsive actions from getting out of hand. Power can do many great things and there are many types of power. Uncontrolled it is reckless and dangerous, controlled it is amazing and providing.

I think is has more to do with how you use the power.
you can be good and help as many as you can.
or be greedy and evil and steel what little others have and hurt them.
with all that power you dont need more or to be evil.
But they do become evil.
the think they are better that you because they have the power.
even if they where once like you. they dont help you.
they think no one help't me. so why should I.
its like the British government. they all steel from us all.
but try to stop every one having what they need.
even GOD is corrupt. a devil demon.
he makes every one beg to him for a good life.
or go to hell. HIS hell.
But there are some good people out there.
they just get used by the corrupt.

reply to post by kwakakev


If you convince yourself it''s permissible to do evil to make society good you can do anything.

reply to post by 547000

If you convince yourself it''s permissible to do evil to make society good you can do anything.

We can do anything anyway. Make a fantastic world people are proud to call home, make a terrifying world where people live in fear, make a desolate world where only the most hardiest survive, move on and make worlds on other worlds if we are responsible enough to regulate the power needed.

Using evil to promote good is illogical. It is a break down in regulation and just makes a mess. Using evil because you live in fear is an unfortunate consequence of the society we have inherited. To move past the evil we must confront the fear. Grace in defeat is noble, we all win some and lose some.

reply to post by scratchmane


Absolute power tends to breed heinous people like Stalin, Mao, Poti, Kim Jong, and many more. So they can't be corrupted in a sense of bribes but they are already corrupt in a sense that they exert their power and influence over the whole nation.

In example, Kim Jong had disabled people and short people deported out of the country. He once got injured when his horse slipped on loose rocks. He didn't want to get addicted to the painkillers so he had his whole staff injected with the same amount of painkillers as him. He did that so he wouldn't be the only one hooked. Spending upwards of $800,000 a year on Hennessy when the average Korean is battling famine.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is because he gets used to a certain lifestyle. The luxuries hook the leader in and the leader stops at nothing to get them.