There is a saying, “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

In fact the relationship between power and corruption is a bit more complex..

If someone comes into power and he is already corrupt, then he will use the power to become more corrupt. If someone comes into power and he doesn’t know what he is doing, he will be subject to all sorts of challenges and temptations that he does not know how to handle, and he will become corrupt. Finally sometimes someone with integrity comes into power and maintains his integrity while in power.

I have been told that wanting power is evil. I have also been told to let go of my judgments of powerful men. If power really is evil, then people who have been in power should be judged. Of course that is not always the case.. Powerful men can mean anything from Genghis Khan to Theodore Roosevelt. It is right to have judgments of the first but not of the second.

What is my view on this? Power is a tool. Tools are what you are using them for. Power should be seen as a tool for enforcement of rightful purposes and never be allowed to become an end in itself. When power becomes an end in itself, the result is tyranny. We see the same thing with strength. Many men who aspire toward strength allow strength to become an end in itself, so they become bullies and start beating up on people who aren’t as strong as they are. This is wrong. Strength is meant to be a tool of keeping the peace.

Does power corrupt? It corrupts the corruptible. One needs to have a strong integrity to handle the challenges and temptations that come with power. Then one ends up doing the right thing by the people. And in that situation, power is not evil. It is a tool of enforcement of rightful purposes, and the correct way in which it is wielded benefits the world.