Does Power corrupt?

Does Power corrupt?
#fantasy #fiction #worldbuilding

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[GibsonClans]

"You either die a Hero. or live long enough to become the villain." there are other sayings like. "One nation's hero is another nation's Villain." And then there are saying like. "it's not my enemies before me, that I fear. But my allies at my back." here are 2 that I like to say. "Fighting in Politics, can be just as deadly as fighting in any war. And the battles of Love, economy, and shadows, can also be just as deadly." And "It's better to not be known. for being famous or infamous paints a Target on your back, and can cut your life span short in so many different ways."

[GooseTime-czmw]

I mostly agree, sounds like Jordan Peterson's ideas on power. personally I think there are two sides of the argument you have "the old axiom that 'all power corrupts' has doubtful validity, because it derives from our neglect of Plato's advice to find men carefully and train them by methods which make them fit for heroes."-Oswald Mosley. Then you have "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"-Lord Acton

Personally I subscribe to Tokens ideas that pride corrupts and that it is humility that prevents it i.e. roman dictator who gave up power Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
, george washington and so on.

[Wolf-octx]

I think power revels ones character but the struggle over power can can corrupt if say, someone tells themselves a morally bad action is good. The ends justify the means is a scary line of thought because it can both corrupt and excuse corruption. Also the idea of a incorruptible Isekai hero who simply wants to retire to a peaceful life after dealing with the crisis makes so much sense, those who are compassionate in using and disinterested in holding power are pretty much impossible to bribe or cow.

[GibsonClans]

there is a Saying. "Every great man. Has a Great women behind him." refering to his wife in most cases. Or the saying. "Every king needs good retainers. To support him. or he will fall"

[leavesinautumn]

There are consequences for our actions, those consequences (as much as our morals) keep us from giving into our worst urges. Power frees us from those consequences and so reveals those urges and inclinations we couldn't indulge in before. Some few people have the willpower to resist, many may start off that way and then slowly slide into depravity, yet others would gladly take the chances that power affords them and never look back.

[OakandIV]

Power lets you indulge your worst self and get away with it with zero consequences.
If you act with kindness when there are no consequences, you will probably be fine with more power.
People take care of others every day.

[thiagom]

Why is that we fall so often in the mistake of suppose that if power corrupts then that is the only thing that does so? "No, is not power what corrupts, is weakness", as if had to be one or the other. Why cannot be both? Perhaps you have a minimal and a maximum of power, and stay between those extremes is the way to avoid high risk of corruption.

Why that is not a more familiar reasoning to us? Temperature works like that. Too much or too little will kill you. Light is like that, too much or too little results in blindness.

[panos]

Power didn't corrupt. Weakness corrupt.

[MayanFrighter]

You die as a hero or you live long enough to become the villain - Harvey Dent, a.k.a. Two Face, The Dark Knight, 2008

[ladosdominik]

This is a good video.
But It does raise a question, is what good and evil objective or subjective?

Both have super interesting ramifications for your respective fantasy worlds and the real world too.

[zhcultivator]

please make a video about Neurodiversity/autism in fantasy fiction 🙏.

[thiagom]

Power is dangerous from Ethical point of view, because there is nothing you can do with that without making some Ethical choice, including not using it. And as a matter of fact no Ethical choice is perfect. So, if you will use it you will affect the lives of others, force results that go against the will of some people, and will have implications. If that's a half-decent story in a consistently build world some of those consequences will be bad and unfair, from some points of view. No matter how good your intentions are.

Most situations worth paying attention do not have perfect solutions.

If you don't care about Ethics, you abandon the desire to try to be good, then your problems end. You will use your power freely, in a selfish and poetic way. Threating other people like objects. That tyrant Plato imagines in the Republic, the tyrant who is absolutely without Justice as has the power to be perceived as perfectly according Justice, who can do anything, never die, and never needs to deal with consequences.

The price for that is that we have now a solipsist story. You got yourself one character alone in a world of movable objects. Takes a lot of skill to make a story like that meaningful.

To step out of that you must have some sort of concern for the others, that is not just the desire to shape them according to your whims. Then you get you powerful character involved with those less powerful than him. And making choices about when force his hand and when let things develop without his intervention.

[GibsonClans]

by the way. XD there is an Iseki that has a Man summoned. and end up making him king shortly after he arrives. So he can fix the country, and all it's Probelems. Like massive food shortages and many other Problems. and by doing so, save the people. XD

[DBArtsCreators]

Power is inherently corrupting/disruptive, and it is disingenuous to claim otherwise (most often made by people who want to ignore how no one is immune to the corrupting / disrupting aspects of power)
It isn't simply a case of it bringing out a person's true nature or best/worst aspects - that is part of it, but even a 100% pure good creature with an eternity of time and unlimited, unrestrained power would end up being corrupted bit-by-bit despite having no inherent negative aspects, simply due to them needing to make decisions and deal with other creatures that have free will. Eventually, there would be no-win situations where a bad decision has to be made, and these would snowball over time into worse & worse decisions. There is no avoiding that, regardless of who/what you are, or how much anyone wishes it were otherwise.

Power is like water, wind, oxygen or electricity. It is useful, even necessary at times, but it is always dealing damage by simply existing. No matter how prepared or well-adjusted you are to use it & deal with it, it will still erode you over time, and you will eventually break down to it if you don't give it up (especially once you get used to having that power - your perspective will skew with time).

[GibsonClans]

I just had an idea for video you could do. How would a Psychic/Psyker/Jedi/Space wizard work, as an officer on a space ship.

[alderwoodwoodworker]

Note: IRL this question has already been explored and answered by Eastern philosophers.

The short answer is NO. Power is not something that innately corrupts.

Power only corrupts individuals who lack Moral Integrity, Universal Human Values and do not have their minds and the tendencies that attack it (sins and vices) under control. + The quality of the people with whom the individual surrounds himself is important, if the company is bad, the individual will be under bad influences, if the company is good, the individual is said to be under good influences. Even a lack of excellent virtues does not mean that someone is weak towards corruption.

Historically, many kings of what is now India had immense wealth and power, but they did not seek to conquer the world or oppress their people. The story of King Perikshit, of the Hastinapura Empire is a very well preserved case of the importance of keeping good company and other kings of the dynasty exemplify much about what is necessary to resist corruption and why & how it happens.