And that's all she wrote
I have to say that watching the last 10 years of politics in America and in the world, I have no doubts whatsoever in Lord Acton's wisdom.
He was right. Power corrupts. Period. And that is all she wrote.
Power is one long lie, sadly and typically, for why I cannot even consider admitting that I might be wrong that my efforts to use force, to bully and intimidate my friends and neighbors, except to prevent physical violence and, even then, when no other alternatives literally exist, are foolish and tragic efforts to get my way, no matter how much damage is done to both my and their larger purposes and to my and their sense of dignity and self-respect.
Power generally becomes one long justification for why I can and should impose as much tragedy for whatever purposes I please. No matter how much it hurts the people I impose upon and their efforts to improve their lives and the lives others.
And noone is immune. Period.
And, as with sin, the people to be most concerned about are those who believe they are incapable of its corruption. Especially those who would use power to remove sin, and all inevitable mistakes of life, from human existence.
Those who claim they are immune are not only wrong, their use of power becomes one long justification for their conceit in the matter, almost without exception.
And that's all she wrote.
And you know why I still remain hopeful.
Because every single man, woman, and even children who covets and holds power as inevitably falls. Every single one. Without exception.
As it should be.
And, over time, the romanticism of aggression to resolve human conflicts in lieu of more honest appeals to conscience gives way to a recognition that the ugly reality it imposes is far more dangerous than our fears about the absence of its use.
It is the only honest standard for progress, in fact.
And, deep down, we all know that is true. Because the yearning for freedom is univeral in every man, woman, and child. And it is universal because it is a necessary condition for our learning and growth, which is the only honest measure of our progress. No matter our fears to the contrary.
Lord Acton was right. And all of his contemporary, self-important challengers are wrong. Every one of their protests to the contrary.
Think that ideas are not as powerful as the use of force? Think that power trumps better conceptions of people and the world?
Watch. And learn.
And ask yourself whether it is force of the Roman Empire or the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, the might of the British Empire or the ideas of men like John Stuart Mill, Lord Acton, James Madison, and Baron de Montesquieu, the legacy of American imperialism and unchallenged American power or the wisdom of Mark Twain, Martin Luther King, Mohatma Ghandi, Desmond Tutu, Mohammed Yunus, Shirin Ebadi, and the like that is standing and will stand the tests of time.
Military and legal force can achieve important and limited purposes. But without a respect for those limitations - namely, a respect for the liberty and self-determination of individuals except when engaged in physical violence against others - those purposes are regularly undermined. Including and especially the purpose of encouraging compassionate, moral, and responsible learning and development. And the behemoth that is American power in the 21st century demonstrates that fact of human existence as clearly as any example today.
And the fact that most students of political life know Lord Acton and his wisdom, even if they have not fully internalized or acknowledged its implications for their own adventures with power, demonstrates the much more substantial power of the marketplace of ideas and free thought and action to correct for the very serious mistakes of power that Americans and most peoples of the world commit today.
And there will never be any real progress ever until that legacy is corrected. And a thriving human race will not be fully realized without it being fully corrected. Ever.
As long as that takes.
And that's all she wrote.
We've got work to do.
