Power

If I had to go mad, I would prefer to go mad with power. In my history class, the teacher had a lecture in which he explained the amount of power three men had during WWII. These men divided up Europe into different zones. What power. The biggest thing about this power isn’t the fact that they are changing the maps of the world, but it is that they are effected so many people directly into their households and changing things up drastically for them, and they probably do not realize. The power they have comes from their ability to change the world on both the macro and the micro.
I feel this yearning of power is a very primal feeling that has to do a lot with the psychology of a person. One can speculate about the social and neural disorders that Adolf Hitler had that made him so successful and the paranoia that Stalin had that secured his presence in Russia. Why does this want for power arise? Having power gives one a feeling of importance, and whether or not one shows it, that feeling is integral to happiness. One might be content behind the scenes, but it is impossible that a person does not have thoughts of what it would be like to have extreme power.
It would be interesting to be a dictator. I want to be a dictator, obviously one with good intentions, and only for like a week to see how it went. I wonder how quickly I would become corrupt with power. How quickly would I change a law to suit me because I could? I assume the most frivolous of rules would be made because I had a whim. This is why you have to show some respect for people like Hitler, even though he was one of the most despicable people ever. He had good intentions, although extremely skewed. The horrid things he did seem to overshadow his intelligence. In classrooms in Nazi Germany, the cross was replaced by a photo of Hitler. Instead of any national anthem, praise to Hitler was chanted. Wow. Millions of people cheered when he walked to the pedestal and this is what gets to me. How does one become such a national hero? His power came from this. What he said, people followed. In all honesty, he was a mortal form of God for the people of Germany.
Lenin has an even more psychologically interesting story. At a young age, both his father and brother were executed. His family was ostracized from society and he was even expelled from Kazan University after attending a peaceful protest. This created such extreme hatred that one cannot possible fathom for the state that he eventually tore it down. This relates to existentialism and is really the characteristics of a brilliant man. Instead of pulling a protagonist of Hunger, this man was able to change his hate into success. He did not waste time being bitter about his situation, but rather, he used his anger to become one of the most powerful men in Russia. Is a rocky childhood a mandate for coming to power? I guess I can say it is so that I don’t feel bad once I don’t become a dictator of my small country of the coast of Europe. It would be a nice country to visit for a while, but I know myself well enough to know that it would not stay nice for very long.
This begs a question. The president of the United States is always considered to be one of the most powerful men in the world. He is not a dictator. He is a beacon of democracy and all the great things that America stands for like freedom and love and all those other things that are a part of their façade. The reason that the president is a dictator is because of democracy. If a yearning for power is a primal feeling, isn’t democracy a step towards dystopia because it takes away such a feeling? You cannot say that Barack Obama has never had the urge to declare Martial Law or do some other thing “unconstitutional.” If I may go off on a tangent, I want to point out the hypocrisy that is the United States. They base their foundations of the protection of democracy and freedom. Although the writers of the constitution had ideals, if the constitution was rewritten for some reason, I have a feeling that “democracy and freedom” would change into “personal interests.” America was, for the most part, “clean” before its entangling in the Middle East, although their meddling in Latin America and their tinkering with Panama to create the Panama Canal cannot be considered righteous. However, when they entered the Middle East, oil became the main reason to fight. Rather than raising the good old “red white and blue,” they might as well raise a “QT” logo or something like that.
Now, back to my point about power. I believe everyone wants power, but no one can get enough power to quench their thirst. It is like an impossible game. When you get to the next level, ten more levels are presented for you and you not what prize you will get when you complete these levels, so you keep heading down a dangerous road full of twist and turns and very large robots and monsters until you die. All because you wanted power. So would it be better if we never had to have a possibility of power? Couldn’t one argue that power is the reason for all conflicts in the world? Don’t worry, if I come into power I will make sure that only I hold onto it and no one else can have any of it so that no one else will have to face the trials and tribulations of gaining it. Some could call me the most generous man ever.