Robin Hanson writes,
> The easiest response is to deny the maxim. If wealth = power, then
> the fact that we are a lot richer than our ancestors, but not a lot
> more corrupt, suggests that wealth-power does not corrupt. Perhaps
> you mean relative wealth = power. But it is not clear to me that
> richer people tend to be more corrupt. And even if this were true
> the cause might go the other way -- corruption tends to acquire power.
You've made my day. I've contended for some time that the maxim "power corrupts"
is false. The old saw is untrue because power does not change one's character,
it only enhances and amplifies it. The truth is that corrupt people are the ones
who seek power.
--J. R.
"The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to
think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing
superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion
that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable,
and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not
romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who
are."
--H.L. Mencken - Smart Set magazine - December 1919
[Amara Graps Collection]
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