Think you want power? Look what it does to people...
Suppose Jesus Christ really was who he said he was. I know not everyone who reads me believes that, but work with me here. If Jesus really was who he said he was, then he could have placed himself on any throne he wanted, anywhere in the world, at any time in history. He could have made himself Caesar. He could have put himself on the throne of Genghis Khan or Ramses II. He could have ruled from Tenochtitlan or Constantinople. He could have placed himself in Buckingham Palace or the White House, the Kremlin or the Forbidden City. But instead, he chose to be a peasant from a conquered people, in a backwater of the Roman Empire. He chose to be a nobody from nowhere.
What does that tell us?
When I was at Dacor, back in the 90s, I used to think that if I worked my way up the corporate ladder, then I could fix everything when I got to the top. I could put a stop to the ridiculous project schedules and make sure we had proper time and resources to get new products right the first time. There was a guy I worked with, who was a step or two ahead of me on the ladder. He'd been my friend at first, but as he climbed higher, he started to make the same crazy decisions all the other people in management made. Finally, I reached those upper levels myself - where I was told that yes, I would have to give people those same crazy orders myself. That's when I had my "take this job and shove it" moment, stomping out in the middle of a meeting and never looking back. Here in my current job, people have noticed how much my attitude and outlook have brightened in the past year. It's because I stopped being a manager a year ago. I've felt more productive and useful not being a manager than I did as a manager before.
Look at what the Republican Party has become. Over the past few decades, they've been more and more willing to throw out the norms of democracy in order to stay in power. What has it gotten them? Sure, the few who are rich have gotten a lot of money, but the rank and file who support them have gotten next to nothing. As for the Republicans in positions of power, what has that gotten them? They've debased themselves for Trump so much that they no longer have any credibility with anyone not wearing a MAGA hat. Next thing you know, Trump will have them running in front of his motorcade, or agreeing to make his favorite horse a member of the Senate.
Look at what white, Evangelical Christianity has become. So obsessed with rolling back the cultural changes of the last 50 or 60 years that they've exchanged Jesus for an orange calf. What has it gained them? Young people are leaving in droves. They've lost their moral authority, and their ability to advance the Gospel. And they're going to learn that having a few more right-wing judges on the bench isn't going to stop the tide they're fighting against. It's all for nothing.
I know that having power looks appealing. It seems like you'd be able to get everything running just right, if only you had the power to make other people do things your way. But it's an illusion. They say "absolute power corrupts absolutely," but that's not quite right. You don't reach absolute power and then *poof* suddenly you're corrupted. Power corrupts a little bit at a time, often in ways you don't even notice. Every time you get into a disagreement with someone, and you use your power to get your way instead of working things out. Every time you find yourself pushing and grabbing and shoving others aside because they're in the way of what you want. Corruption is out there waiting, every step of the way.
So what's the answer? We can't all become serfs and let the rich play their power games with all our lives, like the Middle Ages. People have to take on leadership and managerial roles in order to keep everything running. But there are ways to do that without making it all about yourself. We need to stay in touch with each other, listening to each other, and working things out with each other. None of us is perfect. Any of us can be tempted by power. That's why we've got to look out for each other.
It's tempting to think that a big Democratic election win will sweep all the nastiness of the past few years away - but it won't unless the new leaders have the humility to give up some of the power the White House has amassed. If that doesn't happen, if a new Democratic administration likes the precedent of being above the law that Republicans have set, then we will be no better off. Even if that power is used for things like health care and decarbonization and student debt forgiveness, the danger will still be there. You think you want power? Look what it does to people, and think again.
What does that tell us?
When I was at Dacor, back in the 90s, I used to think that if I worked my way up the corporate ladder, then I could fix everything when I got to the top. I could put a stop to the ridiculous project schedules and make sure we had proper time and resources to get new products right the first time. There was a guy I worked with, who was a step or two ahead of me on the ladder. He'd been my friend at first, but as he climbed higher, he started to make the same crazy decisions all the other people in management made. Finally, I reached those upper levels myself - where I was told that yes, I would have to give people those same crazy orders myself. That's when I had my "take this job and shove it" moment, stomping out in the middle of a meeting and never looking back. Here in my current job, people have noticed how much my attitude and outlook have brightened in the past year. It's because I stopped being a manager a year ago. I've felt more productive and useful not being a manager than I did as a manager before.
Look at what the Republican Party has become. Over the past few decades, they've been more and more willing to throw out the norms of democracy in order to stay in power. What has it gotten them? Sure, the few who are rich have gotten a lot of money, but the rank and file who support them have gotten next to nothing. As for the Republicans in positions of power, what has that gotten them? They've debased themselves for Trump so much that they no longer have any credibility with anyone not wearing a MAGA hat. Next thing you know, Trump will have them running in front of his motorcade, or agreeing to make his favorite horse a member of the Senate.
Look at what white, Evangelical Christianity has become. So obsessed with rolling back the cultural changes of the last 50 or 60 years that they've exchanged Jesus for an orange calf. What has it gained them? Young people are leaving in droves. They've lost their moral authority, and their ability to advance the Gospel. And they're going to learn that having a few more right-wing judges on the bench isn't going to stop the tide they're fighting against. It's all for nothing.
I know that having power looks appealing. It seems like you'd be able to get everything running just right, if only you had the power to make other people do things your way. But it's an illusion. They say "absolute power corrupts absolutely," but that's not quite right. You don't reach absolute power and then *poof* suddenly you're corrupted. Power corrupts a little bit at a time, often in ways you don't even notice. Every time you get into a disagreement with someone, and you use your power to get your way instead of working things out. Every time you find yourself pushing and grabbing and shoving others aside because they're in the way of what you want. Corruption is out there waiting, every step of the way.
So what's the answer? We can't all become serfs and let the rich play their power games with all our lives, like the Middle Ages. People have to take on leadership and managerial roles in order to keep everything running. But there are ways to do that without making it all about yourself. We need to stay in touch with each other, listening to each other, and working things out with each other. None of us is perfect. Any of us can be tempted by power. That's why we've got to look out for each other.
It's tempting to think that a big Democratic election win will sweep all the nastiness of the past few years away - but it won't unless the new leaders have the humility to give up some of the power the White House has amassed. If that doesn't happen, if a new Democratic administration likes the precedent of being above the law that Republicans have set, then we will be no better off. Even if that power is used for things like health care and decarbonization and student debt forgiveness, the danger will still be there. You think you want power? Look what it does to people, and think again.
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