Power Corrupts; Absolutely

…but only within a system that allows corruption. In fact power does not corrupt. The fount of corruption is the opportunity to abuse power without consequence.

The first intelligent abuse of power is to eliminate accountability for the abuse of power. Where there is accountability there is no abuse. Accountability is fatal to the abuse of power.

Consider transparency. Transparency is arguably the most effective deterrent to abusive power. To the extent that it is not provided, it is not provided because it is not in the interests of those who wield power. They prefer to wield their power in the dark. That is because they don’t want you to know what there are doing.

Now consider the amount of transparency that is provided for us by those to whom we entrust our power. Were there some way to quantify integrity, and the support for transparency, we would find that those with the least integrity are least supportive. Those with the most integrity are the most supportive.

There is proof, there will be more. Mario Burgos offered an opportunity for integrity to manifest itself in reporting campaign funding. He can report on the number of respondents and perhaps upon the implications of the number. Gideon Elliot reported upon the punch the clock campaign. He will be able to report upon the number of respondents and the implications of that number.

I am confident that the results will support the thesis that those who represent the “system” are not going to fix the system.

The system will be fixed only when the pubic crashes into the system and takes back control.