Power Corrupts And Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

Throughout history the argument of power falling hand in hand with corruption has been brought to our attention in devastating scenes of destruction, turmoil and moments which will never be forgotten. But do these moments conclude that power eventually leads to corruption? Are there events over the past 100 years or more which argue this fact? In this essay I will discuss my own opinion on this topic looking at crucial figure heads in history, Hitler, Gandhi and more recent activities within politics. I will also explore the opinions of noted writers on this subject focusing on “Animal Farm” by George Orwell among other things which highlight my debate.

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men” is a famous statement from historian and moralist John Emerich Edward Dahlberg Acton. Power is simply defined as “the ability to make choices or influence outcomes, which is also power held by a person or group of people in a society”. Nowhere in the definition of power does corruption come into question. So where has this idea come from? Who or what events have arisen which make us associate corruption with power? I will firstly look at the thoughts of George Orwell in his book “Animal Farm”

Animal Farm was published in 1945. The book is in keeping with Orwell’s experiences with the NKVD during the Spanish Civil War and is concerned with events leading up to and during the Joseph Stalin era. Animal Farm resembles the Russian revolution but it is also resemblant of all political revolutions where the idea of justice and equality and being tested.

To discuss Animal Farm, would mean getting into the story in great detail which I think is unnecessary and irrelevant to the topic of this essay. I will try my best to highlight the issues which Animal Farm relates to in regard to power and corruption.

The book is a chronicle in which animals play the roles of the Bolshevik revolutionaries and overthrow the human owners of the farm, Mr. Jones, setting it up as a commune with seven commandments for which all are to follow. The frivolousness of the revolution in Animal Farm is highlighted by the books circular construction. The novel is based on a series of events surrounding the seven commandments, which are:1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

3. No animal shall wear clothes. 4. No animal shall sleep in a bed. 5. No animal shall drink alcohol. 6. No animal shall kill any other animal.

All animals are equal., set out by Napoleon and the other animals, with each event returning to the tyranny and fascism that is found at the start of the book. The only real change is that of the leaders throughout.

The novel describes how a societies ideologies can be forced and twisted by individuals in positions of power, socially and politically.

Very basically, on a level not taking into account the parallels this book has with Stalin and the Bolshevik revolutionaries, the animals are unhappy and therefore decide to overthrow their suppressor with sight of starting a new life for themselves. Once they have become a “free state” as such there soon falls into place an obvious line of command. Napoleon is the main leader, and even though believing at first that all animals are equal etc., soon finds that power can be used to his advantage. The windmill soon becomes the means by which Napoleon exerts control. He uses it to direct the animals' attention away from the growing shortages and inadequacies on the farm, and the animals ignorantly concentrate all their efforts on building the windmill. The symbolic nature of the windmill is itself important - it suggests an empty concentration, a meaningless, unheroic effort, for the idea is literally misguided. The windmill is of great significance in this book. It stands for all the power the pigs have over the other animals, and everytime that it is destroyed it is brought to our attention that there will always be someone who wants to rebel against how the farm has ended up, in a almost fascist regime.

The largest over riding theme in Animal Farm is the famous quote by Lord Acton and the title of this essay “ power tends to corrupt and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely.” Animal Farm is the story of a revolution gone sour. Animalism, Communism, and Fascism are all illusions which are used by the pigs as a means of satisfying their greed and lust for power. The book concentrates on whether a focus of power in one person is healthy for society and comes to the overwhelming conclusion that it is not.

Has the “power corrupts” syllogism in today’s world been translated into a credo of personal morality? Does power lead to becoming a bad person, unjust, cruel or megalomaniacal. In my opinion this isn’t true, because if it were history would simple be made up of chronicles of bad powerful men.

Let’s look at George Washington. Washington was a man of great power, possibly the greatest of his time and yet when put with the choice of whether or not continuing his presidency he chose not to. He denied himself this great power feeling he had done justice to himself as president but it was time for someone else to lend their input into the running of society. NR’s Richard Brookhiser has chronicled, Washington remained a decent man, courteous to a fault in face as he grew in influence and power.

It is clear beyond doubt that power can alter, possibly corrupt, someone’s judgements. But if absolute power corrupted absolutely that would mean that all absolute monarchs and absolute rulers were equally and absolutely corrupt and therefore indistinguishable from one another. For this argument I will look at two great powerful men in history and events which have set both men, Hitler and Gandhi, apart.

Gandhi and Hitler have both gone down in history as great leaders. People who stepped up to unify and control their countries in time of great need. However while we will see that Hitler and Gandhi both used similar techniques to gain control once they achieved it they became very different men.

Mohanda K Gandhi was a law student born and raised in India, schooled in England. He journeyed to India and South Africa trying to practice law there but was successful in neither attempts suffering from a lot of racial prejudice. Gandhi realised the horrific discrimination that Indians were suffering. In 1894