The words abuse of authority carry two shades of meaning. First, they can suggest the essential degeneration of the power-holder as a result of an intensification of his own selfishness and lust for glory. Second, they can represent the invasions of human rights and the danger of threat to life itself that such invasions imply. Still, power can be used correctly as long as the person in authority has a pure spirit that inspires him to protect human happiness and justice and to prevent his own authority from causing harm. Obviously human beings expect and hope for this kind of exercise of power.
(These kinds of person are not born yet in Haiti.)
But unfortunately, man is not by nature always good, and circumstances often rob him of spiritual purity. This situation bring about uses of power that sacrifice many human beings for the sake of the happiness and power of a small group of power-holders.
Although abuse of power might seem to be a problem related primarily to people in authority, the role of the masses subjected to power is highly important in the creation of a climate in which misused of authority can grow.
(Is there a way out?)
TOYNBEE Power held and exercised over others by one or more persons is an inescapable factor in human life because man is a social animal and power is automatically generated by social relations. Of course. it is possible for power to be used for good instead of for evil. but since every living being is by nature self-centered and greedy, a human being who acquires power is strongly tempted to misuse it for his own selfish advantage at the expense of the interests of the people who are in his power.
Since man is a social animal, the first priority on the agenda of a society is always to save society from disintegrating into an anarchy that would make it impossible for the participants in the society to survive. Consequently, there are situations in which even an unjust exercise of power is the lesser evil, and this is why the victims of a power-holder sometimes acquiesce in the unjust use of his authority over them. In other words, they hope that, at the price of allowing the man in power to do as he likes, they can save society from disintegration. Of course, they often miscalculate.
In 1933, the German people submitted to Hitler in the hope that he would prove to be their savior. Instead, he deliberately involved them in World War II
and thus brought on Germany a disaster far greater than hose that she incurred in the worldwide financial crisis of 1929 or even in her defeat in World War I.
It looks like there is no way out, duality in human behavior. (The yin and the yang) Will always be in motion then?
IKEDA: The desire to preserve a prevailing system can become a support for the abuse of power. But I might bring up another psychological aspect that gives impetus to the development of tyranny. There are many people who gladly debase themselves before the mighty in the hope of being admitted into the powerful group and of sharing in whatever profits are being made. In this way, great evil attracts petty evil. The great evil grips its smaller adherents firmly and, sapping their strength, grows ever stronger. The self-propagating characteristic of misused power is an evil of the most awesome kind.
TOYNBEE: Yes, and that self-propagating ability can find great range for development in large societies. For instance, today all peoples are coalescing into a worldwide society. But that society is in the danger of disintegrating for several reasons. First, the existence of 140 sovereign states, largely in discord among themselves, threatens total political anarchy. Second, the population explosion presents Immense problems. Third, sensational recent progress in technology has conferred new power on a minority of mankind, who have appropriated that power to themselves. This powerful group may be called the rich minority of the world’s peoples. It is using its power to indulge its own greed by consuming a grossly unfair share of the world’s resources, many of which are unrenewable and irreplaceable.
It looks like victory is not assured (unless one takes to one’s heels )
IKEDA: By just such actions as you mention, man is becoming the greatest single threat to his own existence. Unless we learn how to govern ourselves more successfully, we run the risk of plummeting Into a whirlpool of destruction. The problem of power and authority is an Intensely concentrated case of the need for human beings to learn self-control.
(This however contradicts all political methods like: Voting for people to defend our rights etc.)