• Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    7 months ago

    I believe we answered this question back in the 1770’s

    It has been answered endlessly. Power doesn’t care, it just wants power. The fact that the entire political establishment including both parties has been taking this path for literally fifty fucking years (Nixon stepped down in '74) really speaks to the idea that they want to play a game and pretend this question hasn’t been answered before.

    We need to look forward, not backward.

    Obligatory “Thanks, Obama.”

    • DigitalTraveler42@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely

      Lord Acton (1887)

      The full quote is pretty poignant as well:

      “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 of the certainty of corruption by authority.”

      Lord Acton had some pretty good bangers on this topic:

      “Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.”

      And:

      “Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.”

      Also:

      “Everybody likes to get as much power as circumstances allow, and nobody will vote for a self-denying ordinance.”

      Lastly:

      “Absolute power demoralizes.”