In the Society: From Economics to Politics

Power in the hands of selfish man

If power falls into the hands of those who have been overwhelmed by their selfishness, the consequences are: 

1-Since the identity of the power itself is unaware and aimless, its attraction will destroy the power-greedy.

2-Those intoxicated with power lose all their freedom and free will, for power is the motive that, by means of its false promises of absolute freedom, presses every element of the character of the power-greedy person inside his aimless, ignorant nature, and every change he undergoes will be merely going though one fatalistic phase into another.

3-The power-greedy defy others in order to establish their own existence.

4-The power-greedy attempt to make everyone else their slaves in order to saturate their authoritarian desires; if they do not find anyone to do so, they will feel despair.

5-When the power-greedy face each other, they neutralize their potentials and add to the darkness of their beings instead of becoming aware of their hidden potentials and being guided to the path of intelligible life.

6-The power-greedy are too selfish to take unexpected, uncalculated events into consideration, and that is why they are destroyed, just like Napoleon was destroyed by a black cloud at Waterloo. 

7-The greed for power is not sweet enough to compensate for the bitterness of its demise. When one drowns into the attraction of power, all of his logical calculations disappear, so the power he acquires will be no more than an inflated natural self. The joys of the power-greedy are not original or pure; when power gradually falls, a tremendous bitterness will engulf him.

When power arises, it pours baseless hallucinations and illusions into the personality of the power-greedy person, and inflates it; when power goes, all the elements of his character are awaken, and they make him see how futile power was. This is why we can say that there is no fall as painful in this world as the fall of the powerful. The mental suffering they undergo when their power disappears is truly unimaginable. 

8-The power-greedy consider power – an unconscious picture of unconscious phenomena and facts – as the authentic image of awareness, freedom and law. They see the criteria for any good or evil in power.

9-The power-greedy ignore the relativity of power. They do not realize that power may be influenced by time or unexpected events.

10-The power-greedy are slaves of power; thus, they always think that they can preserve their power with awareness and will.

Power in developed man

If power and authority is given to human beings who have overcome their selfishness, the consequences will be:

1-These human beings know that they should increase their awareness. They feel it necessary to have more knowledge and alertness if they want to fulfill their responsibilities flawlessly.

2-Though having power and authority, developed characters always feel themselves incapable, for they know that God is the absolute owner of life, so even the slightest mistake of theirs is considered by them as an unforgivable sin.

3-Since developed man has self-control, he seldom falls under the compulsory pressures of authority.

4-If developed man makes a mistake using his authority, he will feel deep sorrow and repentance.

5-Since developed man takes intellectual and conscientious calculations into consideration in order to use his power and authority, he has no fear of unexpected events. His high aim helps him avoid misusing his power. Such a human being sees power as a means to create harmony, order and an intelligible life. He knows well that power is not so absolute as to keep him safe from fall or doom.

6-If such a man loses his power, he will not feel sorry or upset at all.