August 12, 2023

Power is like a liquid that flows over the social order. It shapes what it contacts. Disconnecting is the only way to avoid its influence. Getting involved reshapes the person as much as the person reshapes society.

That's because power flows through attitudes, values, assumptions and demands. The effects of power are imposed, because power is usually assumed to be of high value if not the definition of the highest purpose.

The effects of power are destructive but not often realized. The effects cannot be avoided when interacting, because no one is allowed to avoid them.

Power is like a drug in that it gets the unwary and the maligned where they want to be in prevailing. The basis of corruption is the assumption that if a person could prevail against other persons, it would solve his problems. There is generally no conscious awareness of that assumption in clear terms; it is simply the result of trying to get where someone wants to be. Doing what gets there is the methodology, not analysis with follow up.

The net result is impositions. Concerns are imposed; and power is needed to impose. What gets imposed is a complex system of requirements for building up power. Positiveness is one of the most recognized requirements—that is, positive about one's own position and group, while negativeness is required for opponents.

Another requirement is no moral implications, because they tend to expose power as the corruption that it is.

Similarly, rationality is attacked, because it generates truth which exposes corrupters for what they are, not only through truth but also through the demonstrated incapabilities in handling realities constructively. Rationality is attacked by combatting it with lies and absurdities without knowing what rationality is.

Doing all of that disconnects people from objective reality. Without objective reality, existence becomes a pretense. Fakery is of more value than constructivity.

So a society drenched in power is in an unreal state pretending its way into self-ruin. Fake science and technology are destroying energy and transportation systems under a pretense of solving everyone's problems through absurdities.

That state also creates vulnerability of society to corrupters taking over power and replacing ordered existence with fascism, as Trump and followers have been doing. It takes higher standards and a lot of rationality to overcome the corruption of fascism.