Power Cannot But Be Corrupt

Lord Acton was not quite right. Power does not just tend to corrupt as he said. Power is corrupt by its very nature. Stated another way, only those who have a fair degree of corruption in their personal value system hanker after power. Traits that aid political success—ambition, dominance, low agreeableness, comfort with conflict, and skill at impression management—overlap with what psychologists sometimes measure as higher Machiavellianism or narcissism.

This thought occurred to me again and again as I was rereading Ken Follett’s novel The Pillars of the Earth last week as I waited for Amazon to deliver Nicola Griffith’s Hild. Hild arrived yesterday just as the 915^th page of Follet’s saga kept me hooked.

“Perhaps the savages will always be in control,” Philip said gloomily. That was one of the lines. It was followed by: “Perhaps greed will always outweigh wisdom in the councils of the mighty; perhaps fear will always overcome compassion in the mind of a man with a sword in his hand.”

The novel illustrates quite brilliantly the correlation between power and certain personality traits. Throughout the novel, the persons who wield immense power, whether in politics or religion, are all marked by distinct personality traits like: narcissism, Machiavellianism with its cynicism, manipulativeness, treachery, and fraudulence. Even the bishops in the novel display all of these traits, let alone the political figures.

The ambitious Bishop Waleran Bigod and the brutal political aspirant William Hamleigh embody Machiavellian calculation and chilling ruthlessness.  They pursue rank, land, and ecclesiastical/political advancement through deceit, violence, shifting alliances, and the exploitation of weaker groups.

On the other hand, the ordinary people in the novel, like the labourers and monks, seek permanence and justice rather than personal supremacy. It is the people in power – whether in politics or religion – that generate all the chaos, suffering, and a whole lot of evil across the realm.

Follett has written thrillers mostly. They are unputdownable. But what I love about them more is the way the plots seamlessly mingle history with deep insights into life.

One of the characters in the novel expresses a desire. He wants a nation or social system “when savages … aren’t in power; when the laws protect the ordinary people instead of enslaving them; when the king makes peace instead of war. Think of that – a time when towns in England don’t need walls!”

There are a few characters in the novel who try to build such a system. But they are almost always defeated by those in power.

That’s how power inevitably is, I think. My fairly long life hasn’t proved it otherwise.

My country is celebrating its 80^th Independence Day. PM Modi has given us a new hope: 2047. “India will be a fully developed nation” by that year. He will be 97 years old in 2047, if he’s alive. He can promise anything for that year!

He came to power 12 years ago promising a “developed India” within a couple of years. A lot of couples went by. More will go by too. India’s development ratings on various parameters kept plummeting shamelessly during Modi’s reign. But he has a way of giving us dreams.

What would life be without dreams at least?

Without the kings (and their taxes) and lords (and their rents) and bishops (and their tithes), says a character in Follett’s novel, we could live happily.

But they are there. And will always be there. That’s how all organisms are wired.

So, let me wish you HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY (in 4th colour of the so-called tricolour flag of India) – whatever Independence may mean to you now!