THE ABUSE OF POWER

A fondness for power is implanted in most men, and it is natural to abuse it when acquired.
— Alexander Hamilton

Photo by Sefa ozel from Istockphoto

The abuse of power is when someone who is in the position of authority uses his power to infringe the right of other people, in other words, power is abused when you use it inappropriately to satisfy your bad motives. When we talk about abuse of power, you don't have to look too far to leaders holding government positions or religious leaders or your employer - it could even be you that you are abusing your power.

Oftentimes, we tend to blame the break down of law and order in the country or in the World at large on the government or leaders holding top positions, but we fail to look inward and think about how we are contributing to the menace befalling the world as individuals. Power can be abused in different capacities, starting from the home.

If you want to test a man’s character give him power.
-Abraham Lincoln

Let's even start from the most little ones that we may not see as a big deal. I'm pretty sure a large number of people have cheated their siblings while they were growing up just because they were older. Let's take for instance, your parents told you to share food for your siblings as the oldest, so you decided to give them small portions and take a large share because you know they couldn't fight for themselves. This is abuse of power and that is where the problem in the world starts from - home.

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely
-Lord Acton

Today, we see leaders that have abused power in different ways, they do not care about the welfare of the citizens, they loot government funds and divert it to their personal pockets at the expense of the general people. Not only that, they dictate what and how they want the country should be run, without respecting the constitution that guides the land. Looking at these forms of abuse closely, we may discover that it has some similarities with a older sibling cheating his younger ones in the house. These bad traits, character and attitude may have begin from the home, which reemphasises the need to teach our children the right way to live.

Power is something that you can't predict how you will use it. It is easy to condemn other people that use power wrongly because you haven't been given the power. As Abraham Lincoln once said that "if you want to test a man’s character give him power". The real you will surface when you are in a position of power. For instance, you may be cursing the government leaders for using the public funds wrongly but are you sure of what you will do if you are in that position? Are you a man of integrity who can resist every form of corrupt practice?

Just some days ago, a man ordered that his Estate Security men be beaten up by some uniform men because they insisted that he'd not gain access to the estate unless his car is thoroughly searched. Isn't this abuse of power of the highest order? Just because he had access or connection to government security agents, he feels he can use his power to reckless deal with the men that are supposed to be providing security for his place of residence. It's just a sick world and it shows how much people can be power drunken.