[su_dropcap style=”flat”]W[/su_dropcap]ITH THE US primaries in full swing it may be timely to revisit this much debated issue of does power corrupt. Clearly there has been a bumper crop of those seeking the most powerful post in the world. Also, clearly some of them, probably most of them, never had a chance of winning their primary election, much less the general election and they knew it.
So, we must ask ourselves why those people would throw their hat in the ring? Presumably some were just on an ego trip so they would be able to tell their grand kids that they were once a candidate for president. Then there are some that are on a power trip. Even though 
they knew all along that they couldn’t win, they felt that if they could garner some support they could broker that into a cabinet post, or at least have some influence on party platform. Yes, they were/are looking for some portion of power. Is that corrupt? I suppose not, but lets look at the original theory.
As I recall it was Baron Acton in the late 1800 era that said “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. It is interesting to note that he said “tends” to corrupt. Obviously his theory was that it doesn’t always corrupt. However, he does alter that “tends” if the power is absolute. He went on to say that “Great men are almost always bad men”. Again the qualifier of “almost”. (Presumably we could include those of the female gender in his comments.)
So, as we look to elect a new president we should not just be asking ourselves what a candidate says he/she will do about issues that we hold dear. We should also be asking ourselves who will not be corrupted by the power that comes with the position. A totally different question and one that most likely would affect a totally different answer.
Your thoughts?
Jane: Integrity, honesty, and discipline are all essentials to great leadership. Sadly lacking in our political arena these days. As you also note, a healthy dose of christian principles also help.
Ken, this really touches me because I have such hard time with politics to begin with. (start rant) There is no evidence that a) the right hand knows what the left hand is doing and b) that anything promised is ever delivered and let’s add c) does anyone every agree on what is most important. If we could all agree that integrity, honesty, and discipline are important, I would love to get those right and the other things would take care of themselves – at least is would be a start. In my quiet time this morning I have no idea how I happened to read this in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 but there it was and you’ve opened the door to share it. “I urge first that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (end rant)
Thank you, Danny.
Servant leadership! Well written Ken.