Power can be extremely corruptive. When a person is given a certain amount of power they start to feel like they can do anything they’d like with it, and many tend to abuse of it. Zimbardo talks about how people are most likely to do “evil” when they are given power without the responsibility of the damage it will make. During an experiment, one person was chosen to be a teacher and the other a student, the teacher had to shock the student when they’d get the answer wrong and reward them if correct. During this experiment the more wrong answers, the shock would increase. It got to a point where one student started to yell for help, he wanted them to stop because he had heart problems and the teacher told Stanley Milgram, who conducted this
Negative Effects of Power Controlling, unfair, unlawful are all words that describe someone that abuses power. This means that if you take advantage of having power, it will not have a good result on others. Power creates negativity by having harsh punishments and being unfair which results in exasperation of others. Power has a negative impact on others by having harsh punishments. Creon has harsh punishments on people when he had to “Arrest Ismene.
Malfeasance in Office “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power” - Abraham Lincoln. Any man or woman can make a negative impact on people if given power. Power has a negative effect on others, from famous literature to current events, it is a consistent struggle society has to deal with. From ancient documents, plays, and books, powerful rulers influence abominable decisions. In the play Antigone, the sentry is afraid to tell Creon the news that Polyneices had been buried.
The book addresses, as evident by its title, how good people turn evil, but it goes beyond this simple statement. Further than just turning evil, Zimbardo suggests the line between good and evil is more blurred than many believe, and that good people do not necessarily fully become evil, but rather often perform evil deeds when their situation so allows. The major example given in the book of how people become evil, is Zimbardo’s own infamous Stanford Prison Experiment. He uses this to demonstrate many of the underlying causes which cause a person to do things they usually would not. His main argument throughout the text is that unlikely evil is almost always situational, not inherent or genetic.
Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Experiment Sounds of painful scream echoed in the room. People trembled without knowing what to do. The authority just sat there reiterating with his low voice to continue. Ultimately, the cries quiet down and eventually disappeared. In the end, someone was killed.
But first what is Power? When researching Power words such as authority, control, direct, command and influence all appear. These words all support the following statement “Power is the ability to influence and control the behaviour of others.” The problem with power is that it often leads to those in power abusing it. As Lord Acton famously quoted “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
People who have power could make rules that restrict people and cause them to obey their every order, this is why someone who has power has a higher chance of convincing people to do something then someone without
Power can drive anyone to believe that they are better than all else around them. In The Possibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson, demonstrates that power can corrupt anyone, because Miss Strangeworth has lived in the town the longest she requires and expects everyone to do what she wants. With this tiny amount of power Miss Strangeworth is quickly corrupted to think that she is the most important person in her town. Miss Strangeworth feels important and powerful because she has lived in town the longest, “...she had never spent more than a day outside this town in all her long life.” (Page 1, paragraph 3)
Power comes from the possession of authority. Possession, authority, and control, lead up to power. Many times these are used to oppress, and a majority of those times, it is a government that abuses these powers. Government abuse of power is present countless times throughout history and even currently. The fiction novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury portrays government abuse of power and authority over people.
Power has a negative effect because it causes people to be stubborn and argue in such a competitive manner. First of all, when people in power feel challenged or questioned, they allow stubbornness to over take their reasoning. For example, when Creon makes his edict he did not realize that someone close to him would have such an issue with it, to the point where nothing was accomplished about Antigone and her trying to bury her brother. The only thing other than that was just arguing within the family, only tearing their family farther apart than it already was.
Famous American novelist, William Gaddis once said, “Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt power.” This quote states that its humanity that is corrupting the value of power and not the other way around. Just like with the leaders in the dystopian novels of “Examination Day”, The Giver, and “Harrison Bergeron” who were and are normal people, like every other person, until they got a truckload of influence and power and they realized they could do whatever they wanted, and used it against humanity to take control. So, this comes to say that, “In dystopian novels, authors warn us about having a government that has too much power can lead to the corruption of society. “ To begin with, in the story Examination Day written by Henry Slesar, the government retains control over a lot of things by using strict laws called the “new code” which gives the government the power to control the intelligence level.
“Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt power.”- William Gaddis. People take advantage of power when it is entrusted to them because of their own greed, which as a result lead to societal deterioration. In the story, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood, the higher-ups from Gilead abuse the power that is given to them, ruining the life of the citizens in the society. This was the cause for the need of higher birth rates and fixing conflicts in the world, but this was handled immorally.
Imbalance of power can be seen in many circumstances, including in today’s world and even worlds of fiction. Most of the time the causes of the imbalance of power are typically the same. This is because it is usually for the same reasons and power hunger that authority usually craves. Because of this, the person or people of authority tend to do crazy things to get what they want, which is usually a population that is easy to control and won’t take away their power. What contributes to the imbalance of power is that in working societies and governments, the eminence makes their people feel vulnerable and fear them to make them easier to control and obey.
People have many different reactions when given power. The reaction is usually either one where they use power for a greater good and to guide others in a better situation, or they can misuse the power given and take advantage of the circumstances or others to make themselves feel even more dominant and in command. In the play, Antigone by Sophocles one of the main characters , King Creon, abuses his power to take superiority of others and in an attempt to gain control. The misuse of power is more frequent than the use of power for the favorable, even in many current events.
Power can have the persuasive action in undoing the moral ethics of one’s character. This can be seen throughout history, such as World War II and proven by the actions of Napoleon in the allegory, Animal Farm, by George Orwell. As Lord Acton said “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In history what was viewed as a villain, is never the same as the perception. A leader does not begin wanting to do wrong, they start with the best intentions, but power is a tricky thing.
Shakespeare argues that Macbeth and The Tempest demonstrates that having to much control of power can result in dangerous consequences , however fairness and equality is more likely when there is an equal amount of power. This clearly shows that power can be interpreted may different ways. It can be used like Macbeth used it, to overrule others, however some others like King Duncan use their power to make the world fair and equal. Power can be a good or bad thing depending on how it is