A lot is made by people on this forum (me included) about how corrupt people in positions of power are, be it a politician, the MD of a multi national, or a high-ranking Army officer.

The problem is, it is very easy for us to sit here and moralise and pontificate about such people, but the truth is most of us (I imagine) have never been in the situation where 'turning a blind eye' to something, or giving the approval to something which is morally dubious will result in a £xxxxx cash injection into our bank account.

As Del Trotter once said

"You get all these student types with 'Steve Biko' written over their T-shirts, but when it comes to a scrap over a torn fiver, they make Genghis Khan look like a pacifist"

So, the question is, would omnipotence corrupt you? Or would you be the most honest and morally scrupulous powerbroker of all time?

The people who genuinely are honest and honourable (and they do exist, however few they might be) wouldn't ever get into power, that's the problem.


Honest, decent people get shafted by unscrupulous ratbags long before they ever reach a position of power; in order to get there, you have to turn yourself INTO a ruthless, unscrupulous ratbag for twenty years, and by then, it's too late to turn back.



I believe it was Douglas Adams who said that anyone who wanted to be in Parliament should automatically be banned from standing.

I think that every one of us would like to believe that we'd not be swayed by power, but it's just not that simple. Power comes with a side order of responsibility, and people react differently to that. There's no way that we can know before it happens exactly what would be a stress to us, or what we would or wouldn't be able to cope with.

As things stand now, Id say i was unbribable and uncorruptable because theres nothing more from life that I want or need. I dont get kicks from ordering people around or from having enemies removed permanantly because I have no enemies.

But.

A position of power ensures that you will have enemies, and that would be my downfall. Im too lazy to argue, so if I was in a position of great power Id probably have death camps set up.
Im also a great gloater, so Id probably visit the camps to have a good old grin at the victims before theyre popped into the mincing machines.

What can I say? I know myself!

I could be more corrupted, possibly.