Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

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 or wrong doer 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, showcased in Animal Farm as Utopian ideals but with failed practices.

In 1887, historian John Dalberg-Acton asserted, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This theme has a prominent role in history, literature, and even current times. Certainly, many instances have occurred where once someone earns authority, they allow it to get to their head and do things they would not have done otherwise. Similarly, it is also seen that when one is inferior or beneath others, they receive a hunger for power. Specifically, a few prime examples of people who became corrupted because of their dominance include Marc Antony from Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Joseph Stalin, and Kim Jong-un. These rulers negatively impacted the places they ruled all because of their abusive tendencies that came with dominance.

Throughout time people have always had different ranges of power. The effect of this power is that some people lose control and allow power to corrupt them. Some prime examples of how power corrupts can be seen through the following people: Brutus in the play The tragedy of Julius Caesar, Josef Mengele, a Nazi physician from the Holocaust, and North Korea's political leader, Kim Jong Un. These three people have either let power corrupt them even more then they have already been corrupted, or they have allowed power to completely change their character, and corrupt them into being someone they are not.

In a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton nineteenth century English historian, Lord Acton wrote “all power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Martin). This essay analyzes the corruption of one of the world's most feared and powerful leaders Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler had once been the most feared man in all of the world when he became the dictator of Germany in 1933 and turned a country of poverty into a powerful war machine. Hitler's rise to power came after Germany's defeat in World War 1. After serving in the war as a messenger for the German Army and being in the hospital for mustard gas Hitler felt anger and defeat when Germany lost the war and when the country went into property. Later after recovering from the mustard

Thesis statement: Power has the ability to corrupt someone but I believe it depends on the strength of the person to decide if it will overtake them or not.

The English writer John Dalber-Acton wrote that “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Human behavior leads towards sovereignty. Either a person gets supremacy or attempts to be supreme. It really has a dependency on one’s capabilities. The balance of power really drives social conventions and situations.

Recently, everyone has begun to wonder the same thing: why are so many leaders so… corrupt? Why do they care only about a miniscule group of people, throwing aside morals altogether? The feeling of power creates a superiority complex, letting power go to a leader’s head and giving them the desire and means to execute terrible things. This is a problem because many people in our world acquire their power because others believe they can improve the world. Once power takes control, they become corrupt. It is essential for the public to understand this because otherwise, people in power will gain this complex.

As humans when we have power we find ourselves using it to better ourselves. We take power of granted or use it for our advantage. Some people would say it’s “Human nature.” Power is when you have authority or control over things. Many times when power is given to the wrong person things are ruined. This is because when people have power they think about what they want and not about other people's opinion. Frequently people with power think they are better than everyone else and always know what's right. There are many times in history when power influenced or created destruction. Innocent people can be manipulated by authorities and forced into doing something that they have no desire doing. This is common pattern in history. For example Hitler was given power and created a government that killed more than 6 million innocent people. This was a prime example that when power is given to the wrong person destruction is the product. In his novel, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shows that when power is given to the wrong people, destruction is often the outcome. After there is destruction, you have to build up from what you have left.

In every country, novel, or club there needs to be structure and an authority figure to succeed in any way they can. When I think of a country and authority, Adolf Hitler comes to mind as he was one of the most power hungry people in mankind's history. As he quotes, “He

From there, people conclude that power leads to corruption. Many attribute Adolf Hitler as corrupt because of his actions in World War II. After all, without Hitler, the Holocaust would be virtually unimaginable (Bartov). Despite all that, power had little to do with Hitler’s corruption. Those who achieve power come with a set mindset.

The absolute power Hussein possessed led to the absolute corruption of Iraq for nearly twenty-four years. During Hussein?s rule, 200,000 people were killed or ?disappeared?. Another major dictator was Adolf Hitler who dictated and killed countless human beings. Hitler?s philosophy of thinking made him kill retarded, crippled, and disabled children along with homosexuals and Jewish people. The power that Hitler received when he became leader corrupted him and made him kill six million Jews, nearly committing genocide on the Jewish population. The corruption increased, with Hitler?s desired to expand Nazi Germany. In addition, the dictatorship and corruption caused by power is also expressed in fictional stories.

Certain governments however, were only able to achieve absolute power through unethical behaviours throughout history. One of the major factors that allowed dictators to gain an immense amount of authority was through deceit and manipulation. For example, Metias reveals that the government “run[s] individual plague experiments on … the children who fail the Trial…. and they do not go to labour camps” (Pg.

Throughout the history of the world there have been many leaders taking power and doing an extremely bad job of leading their people. Two leaders that are examples of people who abused their power are Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin. Adolf Hitler was the leader of the disgraceful holocaust where he used his power to take the lives of over six million innocent jews. Josef Stalin on the other hand was so power hungry that he lead a mass killing of many of his government officials because he was so paranoid that all of his followers were against him. These two men together did some of the most terrible things with their power, so the question may be raised, how did they get their power in the first place?

Power is the Key to Corruption William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar is packed with betrayal and bad decisions on almost every page, and all of it is because of power. Power corrupts people in ways nothing else can. It causes them to do things they would never have done before they had it. Power goes hand in hand with greed and Shakespeare conveys through the characters Caesar, Cassius, and Antony how no one man should have complete power because power easily corrupts.

John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton said that “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This has been seen numerous times throughout history. From Hitler’s ideological world and his slaughtering of six million Jews in attempt to reach it, to Mohamed Suhato’s embezzlement of somewhere between fifteen and thirty five billion US dollars, which then led to the complete collapse of Indonesia’s economy; the world has set gaze upon some nefarious dignitaries. Clive Cussler has completely agreed with Lord Acton and his famous quote in the novel Sahara. The antagonists in this story become totally deleterious in there lust for absolute power, which leads to the deaths of innocent soldiers, the crippling of his country through