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| Words and photo by F LoBuono |
This famous quote from Lord Acton (Sir John Dalberg-Acton, 8th Baronet, 1837-1902) was gleaned from a letter he wrote in April 1887 to religious scholar, Mandell Creighton. Creighton had argued in support of the Pope's infallibility and the so-called Divine Right of Kings. In essence, Lord Acton said POPPYCOCK - ALL men should be treated as equals and held to the same moral standards. The paragraph containing this immortal passage is quoted below:
But if we might discuss this point until we found that we nearly agreed, and if we do agree thoroughly about the impropriety of Carlylese denunciations and Pharisaism in history, I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. *Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority, still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. That is the point at which the negation of Catholicism and the negation of Liberalism meet and keep high festival, and the end learns to justify the means. You would hang a man of no position like Ravaillac; but if what one hears is true, then Elizabeth asked the gaoler to murder Mary, and William III. ordered his Scots minister to extirpate a clan. Here are the greatest names coupled with the greatest crimes; you would spare those criminals, for some mysterious reason. I would hang them higher than Haman, for reasons of quite obvious justice, still more, still higher for the sake of historical science.
What I find so interesting is that Lord Acton was a Roman Catholic and a member of England's ruling class. As such, one would think that he would be very much on the side of the Papists and Royalists. Obviously, he had the strength of character to see through this sham and expose it for the nonsense it is. His eloquence in stating his opposition to them made him immortal in a sense.
But, WHY does absolute power corrupt absolutely?
I believe it is so because it is within our very nature. Not all people lust for power. In fact, many eschew it. But, for most of us, the allure of authority, of being in charge, can prove irresistible. Even the shy ones among us, given the chance of wielding unquestioned power, can be corrupted by it.
Let me give an example.
My father was one of the most gentle, fair minded people that I have known in my life. So much so, that when he was a Deputy Sheriff assigned to the county jail and I would visit him, inmates would approach me saying, "your old-man is OK. He treats us with respect". My father would always follow up by teaching me that "to get respect, you must give it'. Still, even with that said, my father LOVED the power and authority that came with his badge and gun. And, he was not afraid to use it.
If you cut him off on the road, you were getting pulled over - whether he was in uniform or not. Period. We could be dressed in our Sunday best on our way to grandma's house for dinner when someone would do something he perceived not so much as illegal as disrespectful (like cut in front of our car without using a turn signal) and he would start a ruckus. He would drive up as close as possible to the "perpetrator's" window and scream "PULL OVER" while flashing his badge. He was going to teach them to respect him and what he perceived as the law. And, he did it all of the time. Embarrassed the shit out of us. It would drive my mother crazy and she would chastise him every time that he did it: "Joe, stop it! It's none of your business. You're embarrassing yourself AND us". My father didn't care. He felt he had the authority to do it. Whether it was his responsibility to do it is another matter. I believe that he did it because he COULD. That gun and badge always made him feel like King Kong!
From my experience, this behavior happens especially to people who are not "born" into the privilege of power. When so-called ordinary people are given extraordinary amounts of authority and the power behind hit, I believe that they get "drunk" with it. And, the more they get, the more authoritarian they become. That gun and badge are symbols of the power of authority, making them especially intoxicating. That's an awful lot of clout in the hands of an individual who is not used to having it. And, the more you get, the more the feeling multiplies - until you get to the very top, i.e. Papal Infallibility and The Divine Right of Kings.
And, the system supports it. I believe that this is the case with many of the recent civilian killings by the police. Although many of the shootings may be seen as justified, there are many others where people were killed simply because they did not comply with "instructions" by the police, even when the person has not exhibited violent behavior. Instead, they had the audacity to question the authority of the police. You are challenging their authority and that will be met with the full force of that authority. And, this behavior has not been limited to human victims, either. There have been a slew of cases where the police have shot a family's dog for "menacing", even without proof. Sadly, these cases are rarely prosecuted. The police simply use their POWER and hide behind their BLUE WALL - the ultimate symbol of CORRUPT POWER.
Of course, abuse of power is not limited to the police. It seems to be ubiquitous in our modern society. It is everywhere: politics, religion, Wall St. Apparently, it is part of the human condition. If it were not so, it wouldn't continue to happen - over and over again.
So, what do we do about it?
All men, if created equal, must be judged equally. Lord Acton: I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility.
What Lord Acton is saying is we cannot let those corrupted by absolute power rule over us. In fact, those in power hold a greater responsibility towards equanimity. They MUST be held accountable! Avaricious bankers, dishonest politicians, abusive police, pedophile priests, pedantic bureaucrats, and the like must be seen for who and what they are: liars and phonies. No man is greater or less than any other. We ALL need to act like it.
Let me give an example.
My father was one of the most gentle, fair minded people that I have known in my life. So much so, that when he was a Deputy Sheriff assigned to the county jail and I would visit him, inmates would approach me saying, "your old-man is OK. He treats us with respect". My father would always follow up by teaching me that "to get respect, you must give it'. Still, even with that said, my father LOVED the power and authority that came with his badge and gun. And, he was not afraid to use it.
If you cut him off on the road, you were getting pulled over - whether he was in uniform or not. Period. We could be dressed in our Sunday best on our way to grandma's house for dinner when someone would do something he perceived not so much as illegal as disrespectful (like cut in front of our car without using a turn signal) and he would start a ruckus. He would drive up as close as possible to the "perpetrator's" window and scream "PULL OVER" while flashing his badge. He was going to teach them to respect him and what he perceived as the law. And, he did it all of the time. Embarrassed the shit out of us. It would drive my mother crazy and she would chastise him every time that he did it: "Joe, stop it! It's none of your business. You're embarrassing yourself AND us". My father didn't care. He felt he had the authority to do it. Whether it was his responsibility to do it is another matter. I believe that he did it because he COULD. That gun and badge always made him feel like King Kong!
From my experience, this behavior happens especially to people who are not "born" into the privilege of power. When so-called ordinary people are given extraordinary amounts of authority and the power behind hit, I believe that they get "drunk" with it. And, the more they get, the more authoritarian they become. That gun and badge are symbols of the power of authority, making them especially intoxicating. That's an awful lot of clout in the hands of an individual who is not used to having it. And, the more you get, the more the feeling multiplies - until you get to the very top, i.e. Papal Infallibility and The Divine Right of Kings.
And, the system supports it. I believe that this is the case with many of the recent civilian killings by the police. Although many of the shootings may be seen as justified, there are many others where people were killed simply because they did not comply with "instructions" by the police, even when the person has not exhibited violent behavior. Instead, they had the audacity to question the authority of the police. You are challenging their authority and that will be met with the full force of that authority. And, this behavior has not been limited to human victims, either. There have been a slew of cases where the police have shot a family's dog for "menacing", even without proof. Sadly, these cases are rarely prosecuted. The police simply use their POWER and hide behind their BLUE WALL - the ultimate symbol of CORRUPT POWER.
Of course, abuse of power is not limited to the police. It seems to be ubiquitous in our modern society. It is everywhere: politics, religion, Wall St. Apparently, it is part of the human condition. If it were not so, it wouldn't continue to happen - over and over again.
So, what do we do about it?
All men, if created equal, must be judged equally. Lord Acton: I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility.
What Lord Acton is saying is we cannot let those corrupted by absolute power rule over us. In fact, those in power hold a greater responsibility towards equanimity. They MUST be held accountable! Avaricious bankers, dishonest politicians, abusive police, pedophile priests, pedantic bureaucrats, and the like must be seen for who and what they are: liars and phonies. No man is greater or less than any other. We ALL need to act like it.
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