Power
"The key to human nature that Marx found in wealth and Freud in sex, Bertrand Russell finds in power. Power, he argues, is man's ultimate goal, and is in its many guises the single most important element in the development of any society."
Stats for nerds
1recommend
2mentions
2people
2010–2025years
50% recommend50% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- It's about power. In this case, "power" means political power. Some people are willing trade a percentage of their wealth to acquire power. Note that in earlier times, power was usually acquired by heredity.
If you want to read a fascinating book on the different kinds of power and how it has been acquired over time, read the book "Power: A New Social Analysis" by Bertrand Russell.
- ‘In passing by the side of Mount Thai, Confucius came on a woman who was weeping bitterly by a grave. The Master pressed forward and drove quickly to her; then he sent Tze-lu to question her. “Your wailing,” said he, “is that of one who has suffered sorrow on sorrow.”She replied, “That is so. Once my husband’s father was killed here by a tiger. My husband was also killed, and now my son has died in the same way.” The Master said, “Why do you not leave the place?” The answer was, “There is no oppressive government here.” The Master then said, “Remember this, my children: oppressive government is more terrible than tigers.”’
The subject of this paper is the problem of ensuring that government shall be less terrible than tigers.
--- From The Taming of Power by Bertrand Russell, 1938
Related
The 48 Laws of Power
85 recommend · 227
2009–2026
In praise of idleness
64 recommend · 134
2009–2025
On power
1 recommend · 3
A History of Western Philosophy
64 recommend · 126
The Problems of Philosophy
17 recommend · 29
On Liberty
45 recommend · 152
The conquest of happiness
26 recommend · 46
