From the dawn of time, the bane of our existence has been the presence of people who won’t peacefully cooperate with others but who seek power over them. In this AIER article, Barry Brownstein ponders the power problem.
Here is the heart of his analysis:
A person able to exercise coercive power can use their morally undeveloped “wretched” mind to create endless misery for others merely because exercising power distracts them from their failures as human beings.
Many of America’s Founders had a classical education and they understood the dangers of power. John Adams wrote, “There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.”
We can overcome our “sense of wretchedness” and need for “excitement” not through the perverted means of seeking power but by creating meaning in our lives.
In our early years, Americans were hardly affected by power seekers who lacked meaning in their lives. For one thing, there were boundless opportunities for each person to find a path to success; for another, domineering over others was both frowned upon and contrary to the law.
Sadly, generations of education by “progressives” has changed that balance. Now we have huge numbers of people who are convinced that they are helpless pawns in need of succor from the state and that there is no shame in living at the expense of other people.
Brownstein sums up nicely: “Pascal’s authoritarian king or many of today’s modern politicians have no meaning in their lives but find a corrupted false sense of meaning by exercising power over others, starting wars, issuing edicts, punishing enemies, etc. Likewise, those engaged in carrying out their orders have no meaning in their lives other than what they are borrowing from those leading them. This unvirtuous cycle threatens freedom. In a virtuous cycle, with meaningful lives, there is no demand for leaders who impose their will on the public.”
And thus, we are facing the calamity of a Harris presidency.