Does Power Corrupt

Power is a very important thing in modern society and in history. It seems that even today gaining power is what we work for everyday. Students go to school to get an education and have a good job when they get older, that is a power. If you have a job one of the things you want to do is get a promotion. A promotion equals more power. Sometimes power can be good and sometimes it can be very bad. Gaining power can make or break a person; how you use power defines you. You can use power to help those below you or you can use it to keep yourself at your position by crushing those below you. According to Encarta Dictionaries power is three things. Power is the capacity to do something, strength, and control and influence. What makes power corrupt or not, is the control and influence it has. Everyone has their own views on whether or not power corrupts. The truth is power does not corrupt people, people and their personalities and thought processes corrupt people.
In history we see that our ancestors always strived for power. In fact according to Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection, stronger smarter animals or plants are the ones that live and reproduce, even the more powerful organisms live on. It seems that behind most of the horrible events in history we see someone striving for more power, once again.
One of the most powerful people in history it seems was Julius Caesar; he was killed by his closest peers because they thought he had too much power. Julius Caesar is considered a dictator, but not the bad kind because the Roman people loved him. The whole reason Julius Caesar even became “Caesar” was that Pompey, the consul in charge, was jealous of Caesar’s “power”. Pompey tried to get rid of Julius Caesar’s command in Gaul because without it he would be weak. This a common sense move because when one is without their strength or back up they are in fact powerless, which is what Pompey wanted. Caesar did not meet Pompey without his troops and Pompey ended up fleeing. Power is a very commanding thing. Pompey was corrupted by power because he let it go to his head that he would somehow lose that power. One could not say that he was paranoid because that how it was then and now, people seem to constantly want to take power.
“Julius Caesar appointed dictator for life in the winter of 45 B.C.”(Cheilik). According to Encarta Dictionaries a dictator is a leader who rules a country with absolute power, usually by force. There it goes again, power. Caesar’s peers seemed to think appointing him as dictator was a mistake because Rome was supposed to be a republic because if one person had all the power, things would go wrong. Caesar was so powerful he changed the name of a month to Julius, now July, this is where power seems to corrupt people. Although it is good to have self-confidence power seems to heighten a person’s ego. Julius Caesar himself seemed to like abusing the power he already had. He could manipulate people to do what he wanted. In the play Julius Caesar written by Shakespeare, Shakespeare wrote of how Julius Caesar would blame any wrong he did on his falling sickness but wanted to be proclaimed as a god. Julius Caesar was not a bad man though, it is not possible that he would have gotten where he was if that was the case. Good things can be done with power. He fixed dishonest tax schemes, gave money to retired soldiers, and gave many people citizenship.
Power seems to be what people are constantly seeking. Power is controlling and can change people for the better or worse. Once again we look back at Julius Caesar. The reason he was killed before his time is because those that were close to him in position feared he would be name king. Well you might think, he’s already a dictator what’s so bad about being king? A king is the supreme ruler of a monarchy which is in charge of a country or state. If Julius Caesar became king then his son would be king and so on and so forth. This is not how the Roman Republic worked because the Roman Republic did not like to put anyone in particular in charge. In a republic officials are elected and therefore can be taken from their position. In a Monarchy for a king to be overthrown a lot of trouble must be gone through.
Another example in history where absolute power was a goal was in the case of Alexander the great and his country, Macedonia. Alexander had taken Macedonia and moved east. He helped the Greeks against Persia and took over the Persian Empire. Alexander is an example of someone who did well with their power. Although he was constantly on the prowl to increase his empire as his father could not he did not abuse his power. He would let the civilizations that he conquered continue on with their practice their culture and structure. He did not let power corrupt him because he did not have a corruptible personality. Sometimes with the power the problem is not being venal, but having a personality that does corrupt those around you. An example in history of a person who corrupts what is around them is Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler was, here it goes again, a very powerful dictator. He is a great example of a person that is not corrupted by power. Power does not change people. Adolf was the way he was before he became the Fuhrer. The character Cassius from the Tragedy of Julius Caesar notes that even if you are good, you can still be influenced by things or people. If you are easily influenced you should stay in good company. “Noble minds keep ever with their likes.”(Shakespeare).
Power does not corrupt people, people and their personality corrupt people. The reason power does not corrupt is the sole fact that power does not make decisions for you. Although trying to get power or having it already may influence your decisions over anything it does not make the decision. There are many examples in history who did not let power debase them of their moral integrity. Even though power is a formidable thing, only you can make decisions for yourself.
Citation
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Shakespeare, William. No Fear Shakespeare; Julius Caesar. New York: Sparks Publishing, 2003.
Cheilik, Michael S. "Julius Caesar." Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.
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"Alexander the Great." Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.
Weinberg, Gerhard L. "Adolf Hitler." Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.
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