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It Is Not the Power but Fear of Loosing That Power Which Corrupts

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It Is Not the Power but Fear of Loosing That Power Which Corrupts
“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it”. (Aung San Suu Kyi’s speech on Freedom from Fear)
“Power has only one duty --to secure the social welfare of the people” Disraeli Benjamin. However, the reality is somewhat different. History has led us to conclusions where those in power dominated over the weaker ones and used their supremacy to carry out immoral actions. Keeping such views under consideration, the norm that power, the authority to rule over and influence a group, tends to corrupt an individual as power brings an individual closer to his desires and grants him unquestionable authority. What is of more significance in corrupting a person is the fear of losing the power, the influence that one holds because fear takes away the ability to discriminate between right and wrong which results in immorality of actions.
Humans act close to the theory of opportunism, and are motivated by self-interests without considering the values of their actions. Therefore, it is obvious that when one attains power, the person is attracted towards material necessities since being in power brings a person, closer to the fulfillment of his desires. The influence of being powerful allows people to manipulate the circumstances to suit their own needs. It is important to relate to William Jefferson in this scenario. W. Jefferson is a former American congressman who has been included in CREW’S report 2006 (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that describes itself as "dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials – regardless of party affiliation – who sacrifice the common good to special interests) as being a corrupt politician. Jefferson has been accused for getting involved in attaining financial benefits through illegal means. For instance,



Cited: Pakistan Weekly."Musharraf Trial." Project. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. http://musharraftrial.net/ Ariela Pelaia. "The Passover (Pesach) Story." About.com Judaism. Web. 9 Mar. 2012. http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/The-Passover-Pesach-Story.htm "Stalin 's Russia." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation. Web. 11 Mar. 2012. <http://library.thinkquest.org/C0112205/stalinsrussia.html>. John Simkin"The Great Purge." Spartacus Educational. Web. 11 Mar. 2012. Crew Org. "Beyond Delay." Citizenforethics.org. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. <http://www.citizensforethics.org/page/-/PDFs/Reports/Most%20>.

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