Tanya | Week 10 | Power Is a Slippery Thing
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
I can’t remember where I first heard that statement, but I do know that it is one of the truest and most profound things I have ever heard. While I have primarily considered this statement as a guiding moral principle to remember that my actions have consequences, I can’t help but notice that it has far wider implications.
Ever since the United States fought and won its independence from Great Britain, it has been more than wary of overly powerful leaders. The founders had experienced what it was like to have one individual’s voice dictate their rights, and as a result, they believed that power should be evenly distributed. They believed that no one person can or should be trusted to act with “great responsibility,” especially in the context of leading a country so powerful.
Consequently, checks and and balances were implemented into the federal government to prevent the unequal concentration of power in one branch. Being president of the United States was absolutely never meant to function on its own, and yet that is essentially the situation we are currently faced with. Under a certain president, the power of the executive branch has expanded significantly, and this is only reinforced by people who continue to blindly support him and excuse the damage that his policies cause.
Therefore, a leader with such great power needs to also have great accountability for their actions. Otherwise, their power runs rampant, causing innocent people to get hurt in the process. History has proven over and over again that when one person is given unchecked power, they rarely (if ever) use it responsibly.
The very reason we are required to take three years of history in order to graduate is so that we are able to recognize the patterns and learn from them, and the pattern we need to address right now is that power is incredibly dangerous without the proper responsibility to accompany it.
Hi Tanya! The moment I read the first sentence of your blog, I immediately thought of Spider-Man: No Way Home as Aunt May tells Peter Parker that. Although I, too, can’t remember where I first heard it, I agree with its importance.
ReplyDeleteI also really like the picture you put up, showing Trump being weighed down, implying that the more power he has compared to the common folk, whose jobs are either doctor or construction worker. I also immediately thought of him when you said that “great power needs to also have great accountability for their actions.” Trump’s power is running rampant, especially with ICE and his desire to conquer Greenland (?), and it's affecting the entire country.
You also bring up a really interesting point about the importance of taking history, which ties in with how important education is. Without education, it's more likely that we wouldn't be able to distinguish misinformation and stereotypes, and additionally, we wouldn't know how to properly “think” or ask “why” about major things. In 2016, Trump also made the comment, “I love the poorly educated,” which further emphasizes how important education is in preventing these patterns of power being used irresponsibly by such leaders.
The phrase you mentioned in your blog also reminds me of another phrase: “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Though hackneyed aphorisms, they still carry wisdom. Though pessimistic, I believe that humanity as a whole is corruptible—that is, that nobody is exempt from the grubby influence of greed. Checks and balances are important because they keep our worst impulses under control. The government must be an extension of the people, and the people that are so susceptible to moral decay must be kept in check.
ReplyDeleteThe balance in nature is delicate; a single species (an invasive one, maybe) can disrupt and threaten to destroy an entire ecosystem. Likewise, any single person with more power than they should ever possess is at risk of overhauling a system that has worked, for the most part, for hundreds of years. However, humans are nothing if not resilient, and nothing can’t be recovered from, no matter how long it might take.
My first encounter with this quote was from the wise words of uncle ben in Spider-Man, telling Peter Parker to be responsible with the power he has. In todays case, Donald Trump seems to not take the heedance of uncle Ben and is expanding the power of the executive branch drastically. Like you said, power seems to have an intrinsic property to corrupt, especially in political situation. In fact, James Madison once famously said, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." Even throughout history, power is usually never voluntarily surrendered, and it must be balanced. However, our system of checks and balance's is also being corrupt, so how do we "balance" this power? Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to disagree with the saying your blog is centered around, even if it may verge on being a cliche these days. The bigger the hammer you hold, the more careful you have to be with your swings, and all that. However, I feel it applies most to those who have the power to hurt others without meaning to, and would be motivated to be careful not to. On the other hand, It seems to be the best case (in terms of political corruption) if those in power are merely irresponsible, as opposed to being actually malicious. And I do not mean malicious in the “completely evil” way, I mean malicious in the way a fascist leader would unite their supporters against a common “enemy,” be it Jewish people, disabled people, queer people, et cetera.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, your blog has made me realize how incredibly ironic it is that the United States was the one to succumb to a (borderline) dictator while being the nation that was built around being “wary of overly powerful leaders.” This just serves as a lesson that no matter how secure we may feel in our constitution and government, there is always that possibility of democracy being undermined for the sake of profit, or power, or both; your assertion about the reason we need to take history to graduate from high school rings true. Good job on your blog!