“Give a man power, and you’ll see what he’s truly like.”
Of course, this cruelty in people isn’t a product of the modern age. I’d say it has nothing to do with dates and years; it’s inside people. Do you know that humans are the only beings in the world who enjoy tormenting those weaker than themselves? Animals kill only to survive – it’s the food chain and the law of survival. With humans, it’s different. Deeply hidden within them (I won’t say within us, although we are all humans, all the same, but still – different!) is a primal need to bully and humiliate. The goal isn’t survival but self-aggrandizement and the alleviation of frustrations…
It’s almost forgotten, although it wasn’t that long ago, how during World War II, the Nazis shamelessly humiliated and tormented Jews: giving them wooden clogs that were too big to humiliate them as they struggled to walk, inspecting them naked, then deciding who to kill immediately and who to use and torture, then kill later… Wartime is the most fertile ground for revealing true human nature, the most hidden passions, and animal instincts (though, as mentioned above, animals kill to survive). Accounts from surviving camp prisoners confirm that guards most devotedly tortured victims – these were the very same quiet and unremarkable neighbors from the street, who change fundamentally when they taste the sweetness of power and authority.
I read somewhere that power damages the brain, specifically mirror neurons. People with an insatiable desire to constantly prove to themselves and others that they are above the law and norms show a tendency to equate themselves with God – the hubris syndrome. This feeling of privilege and entitlement to what is not allowed to “ordinary” people changes the psyche and damages mental processes. People are then perceived as objects and means to achieve goals. Moral restraints weaken and break, and egoism and lack of empathy triumph. A person becomes obsessed with the need to always and everyone to win. The so-called “winner effect” often arises, where after fighting weaker opponents, they later defeat stronger opponents – pushing boundaries.
Everything wrong in this world is such because of evil people. And the devastating truth is that there are more of them than there are good ones. Therefore, because they are rare, good people and true friends should be valued. Always strive to expand the circle of goodness through your deeds and example. The man who helped me clean the snow off my car early in the morning when I was late for work responded to my gratitude with a wise piece of advice: “Help someone else, that’s how you’ll repay me.”
“Power is sweet, it is like a drug, it is a desire that increases with habit.”