How We Think About Power Shapes Our Society

Power doesn't have to be hierarchical, and it doesn't have to lead to abuse. But hierarchical forms of power inevitably will.

Everywhere we look in modern society, we see abuses of power. We’re all familiar with the saying “absolute power corrupts absolutely”, but does that really only apply to absolute power? And does that mean that power itself is toxic?

That saying describes why it isn’t just about who wields power, but the nature of power that makes it abusive (or not). There are no such thing as bad apples, only bad barrels. As the Stanford Prison Experiment revealed (unintentionally, at the time), any person given the role of an abuser in an inherently abusive system of power will end up abusing those they have power over.

So what is it about power, exactly, that leads to abuse?

We commonly think of power only in the context of domination (power-over), but the word can be used to mean very different things. At it’s core, the word simply means agency, or one’s ability to exercise their free will and act in the world. Personal power is a way of describing this basic human trait, also known as power-within.

Between individuals, relationally, power can either be shared horizontally, or wielded vertically. The former is simply a group of individuals all exercising their personal power as equals (also called power-with), without any one person’s power being diminished or increased.

When power is exercised in a hierarchical structure (vertically), the power each person has is redistributed so that those above hold more than those below. In other words, the structure itself shifts power upward, taking power away from those at the bottom and giving that power to those at the top.

Hierarchies inevitably lead to abuses of power because the structure itself is predicated upon it. Power that is hierarchical is by definition abusive (power-over), and the only healthy expression of power is horizontal (power-with). This is proven by the fact that hierarchies require an elaborate system of checks and monitoring and accountability in order to prevent abuses from occurring - and even then abuses still inevitably happen.

It’s not about who is given power over other human beings, and it certainly isn’t about intention. Those who are put in such a position must constantly guard against the tendency to take advantage of their power and position for personal gain, and the longer one is in that position the more one will end up taking that power for granted, and feel entitled to abuse it.

This explains why those at the top of a hierarchy would prefer that structure of power, but it doesn’t explain why those toward the bottom - who don’t personally benefit from it and in fact suffer from it - would still desire to live under such a power structure. Throughout history people have propped up “leaders” to lord over them, from lords and kings to dictators and cult leaders. Why are they so willing to hand their own power away?

The Fascist in our Heads

The strategic adversary is fascism…the fascism in us all, in our heads and in our everyday behavior, the fascism that causes us to love power, to desire the very thing that dominates and exploits us. It’s too easy to be antifascist on the molar level, and not even see the fascist inside you, the fascist that you yourself sustain and nourish and cherish with molecules both personal and collective.

- Michael Foucault

Many people inherently desire equality and fairness, and know deep down that domination is wrong. This is an innate human tendency related to empathy, which has been observed in many other species as well.

Unfortunately, despite this core human trait, thanks to centuries and millennia of hierarchical human cultures we have also internalized an opposing, toxic way of thinking - often without even realizing it.

Underneath all the various forms of domination such as racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, and even speciesism, is one simple conception of the world: a way of organizing the value of life in a hierarchical way. This goes far beyond tribalism, and in groups versus out groups, as it’s entirely possible to feel a sense of belonging to a group without also feeling inherently superior to everyone else.

We orient ourselves in the world according to mental models, and these models provide a lens through which we conceive of ourselves and everyone (and everything) around us. And as such, they dictate how we relate to other people, and even other beings.

A hierarchical mindset is a way of organizing the world such that some beings are superior to others, who are inferior. We have all internalized this to some degree from growing up in a hierarchical society (as is the case with all forms of domination like racism and sexism), but many of us have rejected this mindset in favor of equality and empathy.

Unfortunately, there are also many people who have not, and overtly embrace this way of thinking either because they were trained to think that way or because their personality predisposes them to it (or likely a combination of both). These people want to be ruled, because they also want to rule, as the assumption in their minds is that by supporting the Authority they will be granted a measure of authority in return. (Needless to say they're fools). They support the supremacy of the few because they also feel superior.

While many people are good, honest, and kind, it's also true that many people are not. We tend to assume the best of people, but this assumption simply isn’t always true, and it can even be dangerous. Those who embrace supremacy and domination are toxic to everyone around them, personally and societally.

They are the frenzied, hateful mob that turns into pogroms and witchhunts, the people who scream in hatred as the "witch" burns or the black man is hung. Even if they aren't the ones who end up committing the violence, they support the ones who do. You can find them at any mega church or Trump rally these days, and those that stay home are the ones glued to Fox.

This is why "no war but the class war" is such a foolish slogan. Most of those who comprise the mob are the working class, and sharing the same material interests means nothing to them because that’s not how they think.

There are no bad people, but there are bad worldviews.

Ever since the rise of civilization we've seen a clash between the two paradigms of supremacy (domination leading to alienation) and egalitarianism (interconnectedness leading to harmony). The former has spread like a cancer, a mind-virus, throughout the world, but recently we are seeing its dominance wane for the first time. However the structures of power are still firmly in the hands of the supremacists, and as they lose the culture war they are tightening their grip on power by whatever means necessary.

And even as the majority rejects the increased craziness and naked desire for domination coming from the right, the right-wing takeover of news outlets and social media (thanks to billionaire funding) is having an impact, as it’s a human tendency to follow the herd and be influenced by the people around us.

Things are really coming to a head, as we're on the cusp of change, but the supremacist mindset isn’t going away anytime soon. And this sea change in paradigms is probably too late to avoid societal collapse given the ecological collapse already well underway - and as things around us increasingly fall apart, many will desire simple solutions and look to “strong men” to save them. Humanity has come a long way in freeing itself from the domination of it’s own toxic mindset, but things are going to get worse before they get better.