Absolute Power

The recent attack in Russia sent social media abuzz. It wasn't an outpour of rage or empathy towards the many victims that flooded the space, rather it was a fear of the unknown stemming from what Vladimir Putin would do in reaction to the attacks. Conspiracy theories sprung up from here and there in what might have caused the attacks and there was understandable fear directed towards Ukraine. Now I relieve the highlights of this because it is important to point out that it was Putin the person rather than the catastrophic event that took center stage.

Putin has often been dubbed 'the Worlds most powerful ruler' perhaps along with his Chinese counterparts. His power doesn't come from his Country's capabilities which is a far cry compared to the USA, but rather it stems from how much influence he is able to exert on his people. According to the opinions of most people, that is simply what true power is - influence. The structure of most democratic institutions ensure that there are checks and balances even though that has shown itself too to be imperfect, especially with the tendency of people in Government to embrace a particular political ideology and move aggressively with it sometimes against the people's wishes.

That kind of power may be beyond what is healthy for the vast majority of us, but we can always strive to improve our influence and get a bit more powerful in any area we find ourselves. Power is a good thing, just ask the decision makers at any medium sized corporate entity and they'll tell you. Getting more powerful for the vast majority of us is closely related to increasing our income and earnings to attain a level of independence that we can have some degree over the choices we make or the way our spheres of influence shape out. There are some Whales on the Hive chain that many pray won't move their funds, or worse try to enforce their personal preferences on the platform.

To be honest the power dynamics fasinates me a little bit. What I find even more fulfilling is the ability to attain independence and insulate from the influence of others to an extent. Make no mistake, it is a lot better to be on the side of power than on the victim side.