| power |*
by John at 11/16/2004 09:32:00 PM
I was thinking about that quote about absolute power and that thing it does to people who wield it when I was reading about the fast one House Republicans are trying to pull by passing a rule change that will allow Tom DeLay to keep his job as Majority Leader even after he gets indicted by that grand jury in Texas. They want to change the same rules they put in place in 1993 when they were punishing Democrat Dan Rostenkowski.
Anyway, the quote I was thinking of was by a guy named Lord Acton (1834-1902). I'll start with the obvious one, but he said some other interesting things, too:
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
"And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. All power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely."
"Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity."
"Machiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of Parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith."
"The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the party that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections."
"The man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who surrenders every right to the state. They both deny that right is superior to authority."
"It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority. For there is a reserve of latent power in the masses which, if it is called into play, the minority can seldom resist. But from the absolute will of an entire people there is no appeal, no redemption, no refuge but treason."
"The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities."
"There are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion."
"If some great catastrophe is not announced every morning, we feel a certain void. Nothing in the paper today, we sigh."
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* The title is a math geek joke
Anyway, the quote I was thinking of was by a guy named Lord Acton (1834-1902). I'll start with the obvious one, but he said some other interesting things, too:
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
"And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. All power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely."
"Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity."
"Machiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of Parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith."
"The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the party that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections."
"The man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who surrenders every right to the state. They both deny that right is superior to authority."
"It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority. For there is a reserve of latent power in the masses which, if it is called into play, the minority can seldom resist. But from the absolute will of an entire people there is no appeal, no redemption, no refuge but treason."
"The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities."
"There are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion."
"If some great catastrophe is not announced every morning, we feel a certain void. Nothing in the paper today, we sigh."
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* The title is a math geek joke
Actually, your math would translate to the absolute VALUE of power...which I would argue is 0 since it is both the most enticing and the least fulfilling of human desires.
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