"The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing....We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power." -- from the novel "1984" by George Orwell (6/25/1903 - 1/21/1950).
One could imagine any Republican / White Supremacist / Forced Birth party leader saying something like this in a private meeting discussing strategy. There's deep cynicism, dishonesty and amorality in the party that worships power and a narcissistic, unstable demagogue who brought them a taste of it several years ago. They want it back, and they'll lie, cheat and undermine elections in order to get it, because to them "the object of power is power."
(photo: Associated Press)
"...well, yes, but what do they want to DO with it?"
ReplyDeleteYou know, and I know, that that is the wrong question; but we rarely see anyone say why. That is because there are different kinds of power, and Orwell's targets are talking about their kind, whereas other theorists of power talk about other kinds, mostly without ever explaining exactly which kind they mean.
The kind of power that Orwell has his targets talking about is the kind that conveys unaccountability. Nothing else matters to them, and that is what creates the bewilderment when we look for, and do not find, tangible rewards changing hands. This is also why anyone who wishes to fight them must focus exclusively on accountability, because it really is the only thing that is in play. The argument from greed is a category error and it fatally weakens the argument.