Dear Friends,
It seems to me, unlimited power leads to unlimited atrocities. History is unambiguous on this. With examples spanning human history. Alexander’s slaughtering of the city of Thebes, Tamerlane’s atrocities against Hindus and Christians, up to today’s North Korean despot Kim. Atrocities aren’t only for villains, they’re for heroes as well… if they get to write the history. Moreover, no one who commits an atrocity thinks they’re doing an evil. Not at all, they’ve rationalized it in their heads, to be a good and necessary thing. You and I, out of ignorance and given unlimited power, would be likely to commit several atrocities in our struggle to better the human condition. Those who “know” they wouldn’t, are the ones who would commit the worst ones.
Lacking omniscience our knowledge is limited. Giving unlimited power to a limited being is asking for trouble. Moreover, no amount of surveillance will make a person or agency omniscient. Only more nosy. Which makes unlimited power foolish. Since the quality of knowing everything is impossible, it’s also impossible to apply unlimited power effectively. Our lack of true understanding and human heartedness, makes that power into a sledge hammer, wielded by a barbarian. When it would take omniscience to machine that club into a jeweler’s tool set, and human heartedness to use it. So those who seek unlimited power to improve the lot of Mankind are foolish people, playing stupid games, and we all know how that turns out… we all win stupid prizes.
With unlimited power, comes zero consequences for actions, and no effective feedback for crazy thoughts. So those invested with zero consequences and unlimited power, even with the most angelic goals, will end up killing millions. Because consequences and feedback are what keep us sane. Someone with the power to kill at a command isn’t a person others make angry. So the totalitarian is insulated from sanity. Plus, without consequences for failure, there’s no learning from it either. This lack of feedback and learning from failure magnifies the lack of omniscience, of the despot or oligarchy, into outright malevolence. Hatred against those that are clearly standing in the way of a utopian existence for humanity. Providing the victims for the atrocities.
The more idealistic the ruler the more heinous the atrocities. While a pragmatist looks at results not intentions, the idealist looks at intentions not results. So if a given action has failed in the past, or worse, yielded negative results, a pragmatist will try something different. Cut their losses if you will. Even as an Idealist will try and try again. Because the goal is so glittering it’s worth any atrocity. With the idealist mindset of win lose, that someone has to suffer to birth their vision, is only natural. The few lose so the many can win. A look at the earlier examples will find that all but Alexander were idealists. While Alexander aimed his atrocities at Thebes to settling Greece… Tamerlane, Hitler, Mao, Kim and the whole lot sought a utopian world… and delivered hell on Earth.
That’s why I say, unlimited power leads to unlimited atrocities. People are simply incapable of omniscience (unlimited knowledge) and therefore incapable of handling unlimited power. Plus the human hearted among us are few, and proof of human heartedness, is they don’t seek power. Who dares correct the tyrant? Which is why despots always go insane. Getting ever further from reality and deeper into their fevered dreams. Then there’s the idealist who seizes power in a coup. Given unlimited power, to implement their vision of utopia, breaking a few eggs is acceptable. Some have to lose so the rest can win. You could say their goal is so glittering it’s worth any atrocity, and so many are committed. No wonder atrocities are so common, and human hearted limited government, so rare.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
