...“Power tends to corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” Essay “Power tends to corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Over time this statement has been changed and interpreted into its own meaning. Some say power does not corrupt it only attracts the corruptible, however, past events have given proof to dispute that theory. Power corrupts absolutely. This can be seen as we look back at previous leaders, for example: Louis XIV of France, Henry the Second of the Roman Empire, Katherine the Great, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Adolf Hitler. These names all have something in common, they were leaders, but unfortunately, power got to their heads and they were corrupted by their lifestyles and position of power. Some of the most brutal and powerful acts have happened when these names have been reigning over us. Given this, the point I am addressing in my essay is ‘how leaders corrupt absolutely and why’. Leadership is at its core, all about power and influence; however, there is a distinction between two types of power, socialized and personalized power. Socialized power is used to benefit others, and personalized power is used for personal gain. Most power that evolves starts out as wanting to help others but once the realization sets in that they can help themselves more, power starts to be used for personal gain. Examples of this have happened in history as dictators started out with good intentions but got corrupted absolutely because they became consumed...
Words: 933 - Pages: 4
...Jorge Matias October 21, 2015 English ll honors 2D178 What do you think about power, does it corrupt the person with it or does it not? In my opinion Power does corrupt people as well as fear. In the quote who was made by John Steinbeck; “Power does not corrupt; Fear corrupts… Perhaps the fear of a loss of power.” Power corrupts people when they have a lot of power with any kind. Hitler was one who was corrupt when he was the ruler of Germany and the Nazi Party. People with a lot of money can be corrupt with greed and being rich. In the book, Animal Farm which whom is written by Steinbeck shows one of the characters and the whole farm being corrupted from power....
Words: 606 - Pages: 3
...Power has been the aspect that has lead many leaders to become corrupt and loose their power or die trying to keep it. The power people chase is brought upon by selfishness and greed. Once one is corrupted with power they will do anything and everything they can to obtain more of what they want. How you use your power defines your character. In the play “Macbeth”, power is a corrupting force that can change a man’s character and cause him to act in evil ways. Corruption can be motivated by power and the advantages people see in it. In “Macbeth”, Macbeth gets a little power and soon begins to want it all. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth make a plan to kill Duncan, the king, “But I worry about weather or not you have what it takes to seize the crown.”...
Words: 1140 - Pages: 5
...Power is a very evil thing in the hands of certain people. In the novel, The House of the Scorpion, written by Nancy Farmer a clear and complete theme is shown through multiple unique and diverse characters. The book is about a boy named Matt, who is a clone of a drug lord named El Patron. Matt is brought to El Patron's home where he learns clones are only used for transplants and will die at the age of fourteen. Matt and his friend Maria get help from the bodyguard Tam Lin and cook Celia to try to get Matt out of the house before he can be used for transplants and die. The clear theme in this book is how power corrupts those who have it. This is present in the two characters Matt, and El Patron. Both, when given power make wrong, and bad decisions....
Words: 1264 - Pages: 6
...John Steinbeck once said, “Power does not corrupt, Fear corrupts… Perhaps the fear of loss of power.” What this quote means is that having power isn’t what turns you evil, the thought of your power being stripped from you is what makes people turn evil and cold. I agree with this quote a hundred percent because it has happened a whole bunch of times in history and of course the imagination of authors otherwise known as novels. Ranging from Macbeth to Zeus or present life, there has always been corruption wherever there has been the fear of power being stripped. No matter what type of power you hold, it will most likely turn you corrupt when competition starts to kick in. Macbeth was a general who was approached by a trio of witches that predicted he would be the king of Scotland. After being told this, the thought of him being in possession of great power consumed him and caused him to pursue the power that the witches predicted he would have. The only way he believed he could pursue power was to kill the competition, in other words, the leading men to the throne. Macbeth was afraid of dying before he became king so his only option was to kill everyone else who came before and after him so he can hold the spot of the king for a large amount of time. After assassinating King Duncan, he was...
Words: 642 - Pages: 3
...r eHIT PARADE OF ERRORS IN GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION, AND STYLE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. lack of agreement sentence fragments overly-long sentences overuse of passive voice faulty parallelism vague pronouns dangling modifiers squinting modifiers mixed or dead metaphors faulty word choice / faulty diction wordiness comma splices misuse of comma, semicolon, colon 1. a. FAULTY AGREEMENT Subjects and verbs must agree in number. Recent discoveries about the weather reveals that several cycles are involved. Recent discoveries about the weather reveal that several cycles are involved. The media was biased in its reporting of the event. The media were biased in their reporting of the event. Nouns and pronouns must agree in number. A student is free to express their opinion. A student is free to express his or her opinion. Students are free to express their opinions. Pronouns must agree with each other. Once one has decided to take the course, you must keep certain policies in mind. Once you have decided to take the course, you must keep certain policies in mind. X √ X √ b. X √ √ c. X √ 2. SENTENCE FRAGMENTS A sentence consists of an independent unit with at least a subject and a verb. All of these rules and regulations should be made aware of. Athletes should be made aware of all these rules and regulations. The liquid was poured into a glass beaker. Being a strong acid. Because it was a strong acid, the liquid was poured into a glass beaker. ...
Words: 1270 - Pages: 6
...CORRUPT POLITICIANS (The true kidnappers of our society) TABLE OF CONTENTS Preliminaries Page Title i Biographical Data ii Table of Contents ii Chapter I INTRODUCTION 1 Background of the study 2 Importance of the study 2 Definition of term 3 Statement of the problem 3 Scope and Delimitation of the study 3 Time and Place of the study 4 Chapter II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 5 Chapter III METHODOLOGY 7 Research Design 7 Respondents 8 Data Gathering 8 Instrumentation 8 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION • BACKGROUND OF STUDY Many corrupt politicians run in a position that they can make sure after they are elected, the power that they have will use in improper way; that affects the economy of a particular country, is an interesting research work of tackle. This research entitled: Corrupt Politicians: The true kidnappers of our society that seeks the answer to the following questions. 1. What is a Corrupt Politician? 2. How do Corrupt Politicians become a kidnapper? 3. How do they affect the economy of a particular country? 4. Why does Corrupt Politicians are accused as kidnapper? 5. How do Corrupt Politicians avoid such behavior? • IMPORTANCE OF STUDY The result of this study will help many...
Words: 1324 - Pages: 6
...The 2 Sides of Power Sam Pinsky Patrick Halpenny Wednesday November 13th, 2013 ENG4U Power is a very vague terminology. Power is like a disease, very epidemics. Power can be a success or a failure, depending on the individual. Power in the right hands creates justice. Power in the wrong hands creates injustices. It corrupts human feelings and converts friends into enemies, therefore having power in the wrong hands succeeds in persuading one, using the power in a cruel and oppressive way. In the novel "Kindred", written by Octavia Butler, the novel presents revolving themes like power corruption of emotion, friendship and racism.Most of the times possessing the power can destroy the freedom of others. Power corrupts human feelings. Whenever an individual achieves the power, one becomes a different person. Rufus, the main character in the novel, possessed the power after his father's death. He became very possessive, even to Dana. The first time when Rufus met Dana he had a good reputation and liked her very much. Later on as he became mature and powerful his friendship to Dana changed to possessive love. He became very jealous of Kevin and was eager to kill him. Whenever Dana asked if he had received a response from Kevin, he would deny it. That did not last long, she soon found out that Rufus betrayed her. ->quote This shows that power can corrupt human emotions entirely. Power can turn allies into enemies. Friendship can last...
Words: 484 - Pages: 2
...“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” (Aung San Suu Kyi) In the tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare, a man named Macbeth is approached by three witches who tell him his future. Macbeth tells his wife Lady Macbeth and they plan and follow-though with killing the king for power. Macbeth gets in over his head with the desire for absolute power and fears that his friend’s son will kill him for power as the witches predicted so he sends hit men to kill his friend and his son. William Shakespeare uses personification, diction, and characterization in Macbeth to reveal the theme of power corrupting innocent people. Shakespeare...
Words: 964 - Pages: 4
...freedom. • Social liberalism, by contrast, is modern liberalism, also sometimes known as welfare liberalism, associated with the belief that an unregulated market economy results in an unequal and unfair distribution of wealth. • The state, therefore, has important social responsibilities, especially in safeguarding individuals from the social evils that can cripple their existence: poverty, disease, unemployment etc. • Social liberalism is thus linked to a qualified form of welfarism: the desire to help people to help themselves, thus still reflecting a general liberal preference for self-reliance. • Social liberalism is associated with positive freedom. 2 Why and how have liberals supported the fragmentation of political power? • Liberals have supported the fragmentation — break up — of political power because of concerns about power itself and, in particular, about the implications of concentrated power. • In the liberal view, power tends to corrupt because humans are essentially self-seeking and so are likely to use any position...
Words: 1135 - Pages: 5
...Business ethics relating to Corruption Chapter 1 Introduction: What Corruption is and Why it Matters? People everywhere are more concerned than they ever have been about corruption and business ethics. This represents social changes that are occurring everywhere, though to different degrees. Partly this may be due to the pioneering efforts of the organization transparency International, which has not only spearheaded the fight against corruption, but has made it possible to gauge and compare corruption across countries. Partly, it may be due to the plethora of scandals and company collapses that was experienced at the end of the 1990s and in the early 2000s. it may also be due to changes in the demographics of investors. Today the worker is also the capitalist, and the largest investors, institutional investors, are protecting the common person’s pension savings, insurance funds, etc. it may also be due to globalization. Globalization has expanded communication and the flow of information among ever widening circles of people, some of whose interests conflict with those of the private sector, and those adversely affected have organized themselves in a variety of ways to express their discontent. Globalization has forced like-minded western capitalists to interact with their counterparts in lower-income countries, where interpretations of trust, reciprocity, honesty, and social engagement may differ. Finally, Globalization has created visible, open...
Words: 5202 - Pages: 21
...Lord Acton stated that “power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely”. This statement seems to look at every individual into one singular group, that if one has had a negative outcome with obtaining power that they all will. Though there are individuals that have abused their power and corruption was eventually the outcome, not all people will follow in the same footsteps. When reflecting on the statement that Lord Acton made, I do believe that power can lead to corruption, but not necessarily every individual will fall to victim to this. With power comes certain responsibility to lead others on a positive and uplifting path, never giving in to one’s own accord. Especially with “new” power, one can easily lose their morals in the pursuit of more power. This is greed and can lead to thief, lies, and total corruption. I believe that this comes from not only power, but the monetary reward that comes with power. Unfortunately more people than most strive to become the best not for bragging rights or to help others, but for the money flow that will be created from the power they obtain. Ego will also come into play, behaving as though others cannot compare to them, in this they are losing the ability to successfully lead and falling further into the corruption. According to the science and technology psychology, “to call someone “a little Hitler” meant he was a menial functionary who employed what power he had in order to annoy and frustrate others for his own gratification...
Words: 826 - Pages: 4
...in, every civilization has some type of authority. However, power brings on great responsibilities, and not all authority figures have the ability to handle that. For years psychologists have studied obedience to authority to learn new things about humans and our interaction with those giving the orders. For me exploring this topic has led me to believe that power has the ability to corrupt, situations are a key factor in decision making, and most people are inclined to obey authority. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” is a popular quote from Lord Acton. This statement has been proven true time and time again throughout history. A few good examples come from the Stanford Prison Experiment, where some of the students that played the role of guard abused the power they had been given for the experiment. During the testing two main guards took it upon themselves to become the authority of the prison even though they were not asked to do so. This shows that even a small amount of power can start to affect the way you act. They began taunting the prisoners, calling them demeaning names, and even forced them to do unnecessary exercises at times simply because they had the power to. Not only does power have the ability to corrupt, but it has the ability to do it quickly at times. These guys had no history of anything linking them to abuse or misconduct of any sort, but once they received power it quickly changed the way they acted. The process that Dr...
Words: 1550 - Pages: 7
...films. Themes often seen throughout the play Macbeth are power leads to guilt leads to downfall, betrayal, and Marriage is a test of loyalty. Although, the most prevalent on throughout the play is power corrupts. A modern story that reflects this theme is Mean Girls. As seen in both, the main characters rise to power leading to corruption, followed by their downfall. In both stories, the characters each have distinctive personalities. At the beginning of each story, both Regina George and Duncan are the current leaders of their respective societies. Although at some point, they both face their downfall of power caused by the main characters, Cady and Macbeth. At...
Words: 677 - Pages: 3
...Social Disorganization Q & A What is social disorganization? Social disorganization is best described as the social breakdown in society that offers an explanation to causation in criminality. Several theories are in place to support the notion of social disorganization as causation to criminal deviance, relating to social aspects: Sutherland’s differential association theory asserts that criminal behavior is learned through created social norms of society. These norms are then perpetuated through the strength of these social ties and the weakening or destruction of lawful relationships, which bond functional social organizations together (Jensen, 2003). He further affirms that criminal activities are more likely to take place in areas where lawlessness is held in higher regards than lawfulness and that criminals are guided by many of the same principles as societies that operate under lawful guidelines, with the exception of the means to which goals are met (Lyman & Potter, 2007). Other theories such as relative deprivation, socioeconomic stratification, and differential opportunity all emphasize the breakdown in society causes undue stress, which in turn causes criminal behavior. Social disorganization is essentially the social collapse of society, where lawlessness becomes the norm, as a result of mitigating social factors. How does social disorganization relate to organized crime and its evolution? Social disorganization and the evolution of organized crime work...
Words: 811 - Pages: 4
