Act II Essay

Power Always Corrupts The Holder

The ideas of power and corruption are closely intertwined. so many leaders of the past have been corrupted because of the power they had over others, like in the Middle Ages, the 1900's, and even today, because the strong and the weak exist, corruption does as well.

History is probably the most detailed source for corrupt power in olden times especially, people were ruled by a lone person or a group. In the Middle Ages the church was a heavy influence on the government, and this amount of power they possessed because of that, lead to their corruption. This also lead to the introduction of scandals such as the system of indulgences in which priests were hired to pray for a person, which would "redeem" them of their sins. Clergymen abused their power and betrayed their faith by keeping mistresses and gambling.

Although it is easier to to possess power when part of a group, it does not take a number of people to achieve power and become corrupt. Probably the most well know case of corrupt power is during the period of the 1900's during World War II when Adolf Hitler came into power and took drastic measures by intentionally decimating the Jewish population. These are the kinds of results that occur when the power is greater, such as power over an entire country. And when the power is greater the corruption is usually devastating. When it comes to corruption, history seems to repeat itself quite frequently.

Corrupt power is rich in the past, literally, because so many absolute monarchs were corrupted...actually all of them were. But today things work differently than in they did in the past. In history, the the events are blatant, but today corruption is behind large companies and firms, like the ones that deal with our food for example. Food packaging companies are huge because of how efficiently they deliver us meat, but they become corrupt when those "efficient" ways involve abusing animals and risking our health. Sometimes the corrupt became corrupt to become more powerful.

Power and corruption are like love and hate, they are tightly connected, and are two sides of the same coin. There are so many unnecessary events in history brought on by corrupt power...because everyone wants to be powerful, and corruption cannot exist without power.