power and its effect upon our society

"To know the pains of power, we must go to those who have it; to know its pleasures, we must go to those who seek it." At birth we are completely defenceless, powerless and scared. This unrelenting, tormenting and de-habilitating fear that we feel at the start of our lives becomes linked deep in our subconscious with the absence of power. As the link between power and freedom becomes more obvious to us we strive from the day we are born we strive to grasp any shard of power, any fragment of freedom, any glimmer of hope in the attempt to hold steady a fragile mind shattered by reality and gradually forced towards insanity.

There are two fundamental needs that most of us will hope for at some time in our lives, neither of which are material but both govern our lives stronger than any of societies superficial forces, freedom and power.

English: Photograph of Rosa Parks with Dr. Martin ...

Crowds surrounding the Reflecting Pool, during the...

English: Dr. Martin Luther King giving his "I Have...

Without either we have nothing but our continued existence to force us to carry on an otherwise pointless life. But with freedom a whole new world becomes open to us, the freedom to elect a leader brings the chance of change, freedom of religion brings a sense of security and freedom of speech gives us a chance to share our dreams and ideals.

My personal belief is that power is just a temporary substitute for the more concrete freedom and those who do not have powers' temporary shelter from the harsh realities of our existence are forced to seek freedom, the more solid and accessible form. Power over others, though, is far more addictive than freedom, which does not take long to become accustomed to and so the unfortunates who have power devoid of freedom will never seek it because they become trapped within there power, now a...