Power

Power has been a very slippery concept in human history. For most of it, power has been perceived as being directly related to possession, such that the more material objects one possesses, the more powerful she-or-he is perceive to be. Indeed, even today, wealth is considered the most reliable measure of one’s power.

Grandpappy didn’t seem to see things that way at all. In fact, once He told a rich man that unless he was willing to forsake his wealth, he would not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, which really kind of bummed the guy out, actually. There is some debate as to whether or not Grandpappy had much wealth Himself, but only a fool would suggest that wealth had anything to do with the perceptions others had of Grandpappy’s power.

Just about any analysis of history will reveal that power never has ultimately come from wealth. In fact, historically, the most obvious source of raw power has been knowledge. Superior intelligence, strategies, tactics, and tools were ultimately what decided the outcomes of all wars and other political intrigues. Something important to notice, though, is that many times the entity responsible for successfully wielding a particular piece of knowledge was a single, otherwise very ordinary, individual. So while there certainly can be uneven distributions of knowledge among individuals in particular situations, it appears that the key to power isn’t so much knowledge as it is choice.

Perhaps the fact that you know more about chess than I do allows you to beat me every time, and perhaps we’ve agreed that if you beat me in five out of seven games I’ll wash your truck every week for a month. But at what point do you really have power over me in this scenario? Did you plug into my brain and program me to play chess? Did you type a command that led causally to my agreeing to the terms of losing? Did I lose because you transmitted bad moves to my brain? And even though it appears as though I’m acting as your servant after I’ve lost, didn’t I, ultimately, put myself in the position of washing your truck every week for a month?

It’s tempting to believe that when this scenario is applied to "real" war, or even real business, that the metaphor breaks down, but it doesn’t. Only in murder does one person steal the power of another, but in every other act between human beings power can only be usurped temporarily. So long as a person has choices, she-or-he has power, no matter how limiting those choices seem at the time.

The single most damaging thing in human history has not so much been the careless wielding of power, but the careless giving of it.

What would have happened, do you think, if all the folks who claimed to be friends and fans of Grandpappy would have stood up for Him at His trial before Pilate? His followers were afraid, but were they really powerless? Grandpappy always told them that they needn’t worry about things any more than the flowers do, and that the meek would inherit the Earth. Didn’t they believe Him? Why did they remain silent?

One of the most disturbing trends in cultures that believe that a few people can hoard all the power is in how members of the "powerless majority" treat one another in order to garner favor with that few. While their numbers could easily overcome the miser minority, they allow illusions of power and powerlessness to inspire them to mistrust each other, steal from each other, and sell each other out. All of this activity only serves to pour more wealth into the coffers of usurpers, which only enhances their appearance of power.

In my opinion, a better way to look at wealth, and even simple authority, and how it relates to power is to recognize that what the so-called powerful really have that others lack is "currency of influence". That is, society has agreed that one’s position or possessions entitle her-or-him to a realm of influence within which she-or-he may do whatever she-or-he pleases. Those living in the realm who lack the same currency, it is implied, are subject to the whims of those who have it. But notice that, like any other currency, currency of influence is socially defined. It can be challenged. It can be defied. It can go un-honored. And it can be counterfeited. It has no real power other than what others give it.

Grandpappy seemed to believe in the inherent value of every individual and I’d say I have to go along with that idea. Every person possesses a certain measure of personal power, personal command of her-or-his own destiny. Outside of murder, nobody can take that away. And when people behave as though they are powerless against a minority who holds all the power, they contribute as much to their own woes as the usurpers do.

The greatest challenge people typically have in believing in their personal power is in overcoming the trauma of being victimized. It is very easy for the human mind to take moments when it has been successfully coerced and turn them into deep doubts as to whether or not ultimate personal power really exists. When this doubt takes over, fear follows, and the perpetrator of the crime is able to keep the power forcibly coerced from the victim. There is but one way for any powerless person to claim her-or-his power back, and thereby regain the courage to live an authentic life.

The powerless person must forgive.