When There is Power to Be Used, It Can Be Misused

Power and power brokers have always interested me. I believe people have power because it is given to them. When we give up a conviction or give in to a person who is pushing against our belief system, we empower them to take even more liberty from us.

Recently, a friend said, “I have discovered in my years of public service that power is addictive.” It is true: “It does not matter what you know, but who you know in the political world.”

Call me innocent or easy to sway, but I believe the majority of people who run for political office do not seek their positions because they are looking for power. I know we can paint this with a broad brush because some people are power hungry, but I think their numbers are few. There is something that happens once a person is sworn into office, however, and they begin to see how other people react to them and they can suddenly understand they have a new found power to open doors for others to have access to people in a higher position with more power. It is also easy to become trapped into helping those in power positions in order to move up the chain of command to a higher position of power. We are seeing that money invites power. Or is it that power invites money? One or the other, there always seems to be at the top of power (or is the motivation for power) a trail of money following or leading up to it. We are seeing this in the debate over expanding gambling in our state as is seen in the number of reports that have declared the great things that happen as we expand the possibilities of having greater access to more money for certain so-called good projects.

Read more here: http://www.ajc.com/news/business/deal-video-game-industry-poised-for-growth/nWzc8/. 

Tommie Williams, a Republican from Lyons, in a recent conversation with me said, “Many years ago, the concern was for families and what will happen to families but now, it is all about the money.”

How true his words are. There have been times in our past that the concern was for helping families to stay together and make the most of their lives. Today, the concern has been shifted away from families to how much money will be going into the state treasury to prop up the lottery, with the promise that it will help (in the long run) families by providing college to all who want to pursue higher education. That old argument has been proven to be so wrong and false but it is continuing to be used. However, in Georgia, only a small fraction of people ever go on to college, even if they complete high school. From where I stand it is time to admit that it is really all about the power with the use (or misuse) of it that has gotten us to where we are today as we long after the money.

Do you think power is being misused in the political world? Tell us in comments. 

Follow Ray Newman on Twitter — @RayNewmanSr.