The Power That Corrupts

The About page of this blog points out Lord Action's statement about "power" being a source of corruption.

That page also points out some formulas for "pure" power which does not contain corruption, that is, the power of the type discussed in the science of physics.

If those physics formulas are accurate, and they are, all of a sudden it becomes clear that Lord Acton was talking about a "power" that relates directly to human behavior, rather than the power described by physics.

Yes, it is clear that there are multiple forms of power.

Guided by the mathematical formulas mentioned above, we know that some power is pure in the sense that it is not related to human behavior.

Therefore if one of the types of power is corrupting, but the other is not, the one that is corrupting must have an additional ingredient.

I call that ingredient "the toxins within power".

Let's create an optimistic premise: "for every toxin there is an antitoxin".

Now we can create a formula for human behavioral corruption caused by the toxins within the corrupting type of power:

C = P ((T - A) + 1)
C = P ((T¹ .. Tº) - (A¹ .. Aº) + 1)

(where "C" = degree of corruption, "P" = degree of corrupting power, "T" = toxins, and "A" = antitoxins).

"P" (intensity of exposure to power toxins) can be formulated as P = O * Y (where "O" is the office held, and "Y" is the time in office).

The expanded, or full expression of the basic formula would then be:

C = O * Y ((T - A) + 1)
(since P = O * Y) it simplifies to
C = P ((T - A) + 1)

The first simple formula ("C = P ((T - A) + 1)") is for a single toxin and antitoxin pair, while the second formula ("C = P ((T¹ .. Tº) - (A¹ .. Aº) + 1)") is for more complex situations where there are multiple toxins and multiple antitoxins that have to be added and subtracted as needed.

These formulas will give political scientists some of the tools of physics and mathematics.

Let the research begin that identifies both the toxins and the antitoxins associated with the corruption within the governmental type of power.

The "+ 1" was added to the formula. See the discussion in the tables for toxins post.