The Dynamics of Power

The basics of power are: responsibility, accountability, status, security. They are all easy to say and preach until you really want to get somewhere. The fundamental behind humanity is will. I will do this. We must have that. If we can’t get what we want, we will seek retribution. Translated for the contemporary times: will is power.

People crave power. In a perverse and diabolical way it’s re-assuring to know your government and its allies have a nuclear arsenal. On the home front, power is the enraged pursuit of wealth. Money does bring happiness, so do simple pleasures; economic superiority over your environment is a comfort that is only human to pursue.

But power is like a stream; once it flows, it is un-stoppable and can turn into a river or a flood, until an act of nature banishes the source of water so it may spring somewhere else. You’ll be left high and dry. You’ll be devastated. You’ll be like everyone else, clinging to someone else or the collective to feel a bit of power. This is the lifecycle of an office.

Power is not a monolithic entity; power by nature must compete with other powers and in doing so become sharper. Stalin relentlessly purged the best of his ranks to annihilate the mere hint of competition. Another drawback of power is that in order to keep it, you must learn more about yourself and distrust people you have always known. You have to consult people who don’t know you, even enemies who despise you. Seek alternative answers. Challenge someone’s expertise and see how they wield their knowledge as a tool of power. Experience how it feels to have power torching your face. The best thing to know about real power and not some self-help hypnosis is that it is up to you to moderate yourself. With this comes an extra-sensory responsibility: you are no longer simply aware of your basic needs, you are aware of everything and everyone that matters.

Reality: Even those with the most limited aspirations have to utilise elements of power to cruise their way through life. Some people appear to be born under a lucky star, but are calculating their every move because they are fraught with a fear of failure. Some people are doomed to failure. Everyone has a will and that is their field of power.

I know I’m an object of criticism in the world, but if I am being talked about, I must be doing the right thing – Kim Jong-il