Power

Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How it Changes Us

One of the major issues in modern society is the tendency of people who seek power to attain it purely for the means of controlling and manipulating people. Not for any motivated reason, rather the goal of such people is acquire more power - not as a means of reaching an objective but as sustenance.

The hunger that drives individuals with an affinity for power acquisition often leads to the wrong people in the positions of power, superficial hierarchies forming such as Pink flamingos home owners association, power structures that are abused, and the wrong people in leadership positions.

Often systems advertise themselves to individuals who don’t necessarily make the best leaders. Take politics for instance, privacy of politicians are often intruded and is a socially volatile industry. Despite this, people still fill the occupation despite the negatives - which people would sacrifice their personal lives, privacy and often their morals for what? If this is a profession that is built on selling Misinformation, Selective information or at the very least Simple truths and is notorious for corruption as well as servicing self interests what kind of person would willingly seek influence in this field. The kinds of people that are willing to lie, take advantage of Ethos, Nationalism, Dogma and other mechanisms of ulterior manipulation to serve their own interests (often in misalignment with what would be ‘best’ for the people). It isn’t hard to believe that the kinds of people that this would attract would be adept at deceit and selfishly motivated. However, there is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to advocate for civil issues, speaking out, and forward change in all walks of life. But the power that comes with being a politician is often more captivating than any of the aforementioned opportunities opened through the power of a politician. Although this is merely one instance of how power structures that are made to attract people who seek to instigate change, it is indicative of how power structures can be abused and why the wrong individuals have or desire Pure influence.

A major reason for a disproportionate amount of power hunger people controlling a large portion of our societies is largely due to the fact that attaining power comes with highly unattractive consequences. Where in order for the average person to make headway would nessecitate a cost that the average person would not be willing to make.

Feeding into its inaccessiblity, people victim to marginalization simply have less oppotunity and insentive to pursue “Success”. Giving rise to the snowy peaks problem.

Self selection bias Survivorship bias - Abraham Wald, Pedro Lascurian
Cultural evolution - Geist + war and agricultural influences - bias towards hierarchy It was purely adaptive, it helped us survive, to choose leaders who tended to be large, strong men potentially due to crises were often a threat from a warring tribe; or an instance where physical prowess actually mattered. - Evolutionary mismatch (physical strength =/ good leadership - taken advantage of + Halo effect) + maladaptive + toxic masculinity Manufacturing crises Fortune 500 companies, FYSE 100 companies Role of bigotry in leadership roles - look to percentages of white men in the us then the + UK equivalent. Besides that; there is also representation problems Snowy Peaks problem Names and faces matter babyfaceness, ingroup vs. outgroup Criminal justice system White-guy-in-a-tie problem - Chinese industry + credibility Steve Raucci - dark triad traits Superficial charm in short bursts Psychopaths Ted Bundy - he seemed so xyz Dirty dozen

• Jonason & Webster (2010): The Dirty Dozen: A Concise Measure of the Dark Triad. Psychological Assessment Vol. 22, No. 2, 420-432. Pyschological distance Dictators Illusory control Enron scandals Holding systems to scrutinize people in power Parking tickets for diplomats in the UN in NYC for role of culture and background Power has neurological and psychological effects “What would it take for you to relinquish your position in power?” - i.e. why do you remain Time horizon Police abuse (overfocusing on what the police do over what they are) - how are police recruited, Doraville, Georgia police recruitment page - Punisher logo (people who want to be police aspire to be vigilantees). Do you care enough to be a cop - YT - New Zealand policing Policing is an attractive career for aggressive bigots Ferguson, Missouri
  Abhisit Vejjajiva - Winston Churchill sinking a ship in order for Nazi codes not to be known to have been cracked. Leaders often are always reconciling poor situations Oppritunism Dirty hands = only downsides, you have to make impossible choices Learning = people learn to get worse - authoritarian learning; they have been Oppritunity = they have more chances to harm others Scrutiny = 1980s IRS - Fido 7 million Bernie Madoff Hedonistic treadmill Seniority Teachers (bad ones) Money laundering