Power

Nothing that I have ever wanted for myself, I tend to duck responsibilty. But to be sure, it is a driving force of many. And I think that the parodox is that those who want it, are least deserving of it and are those that get it. Unfortunately, this leads to war, oppression, famine, and ultimately revolution. Which starts the whole ugly cycle all over again. I think this craving is one that should definitely be kept under control. I'm not saying that it is all bad, but when it is allowed unchecked, it has the potential to be horrible.

The biggest problem with power is that those most driven to acquire it are the worst ones to give it to.

I was once part of a panel of political operatives who were brought in to speak to a first year college political science class. The four of us, loosely representing various political parties and ideologies, did a little dog and pony show on what we did for a living and then took questions from the students. After some pretty mundane stuff, a dewy young woman got up and asked if each of us would say what we saw as the purpose of electoral politics. As luck would have it, I as last in the rotation to answer, and listened to my colleagues spout platitudes about the "greater good" and "helping the people." I guess I was a little bored and mischievous, or maybe I should have passed on the second drink at lunch, because when it was my turn I answered her by saying that the purpose of electoral politics was "the acquisition and exercise of merciless power." Following gasps from the students, nervous chuckles from two of the my colleagues and uproarious laughter from the third, I p... Read more

I think this human desire is best described through a quite from Lord Acton in 1887: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." Similar speeches have been given before then but the general meaning has always been the same. No matter how good your intentions are when you start out, having the power to change people's lives will often turn out badly eventually. With power comes great responsibility and even with a good morale compass you cannot always guarantee a choice you make is the right one.

I don't need power if I'm happy and have money (the 1st and 2nd most popular reviewed). However, it does seem that online colleges have a power share on ria. For example DeVry has 168 reviews already. Some of them are pretty funny http://www.rateitall.com/i-28327-devry-university.aspx

I saw this last night, having seen it about 10 years ago. It still packs a punch and Richard Gere is perfect for this role. Overall this is a film about the human condition and how power corrupts, and it will always be relevant.

Power (Sidney Lumet, 1986) Sidney Lumet will be forever remembered for his string of pictures in the seventies beginning with Serpico (1973) and running through, depending on your point of view, Prince of the City (1981) or The Verdict (1982). After that, conventional wisdom says, Lumet fell off a cliff until the mid-2000s. Me, I think he kept going for a bit afterwards. In fact, save Dog Day Afternoon, I've always thought that Power was Lumet's finest work. It's the story of Pete St. John (Richard Gere), a Washignton, D.C. spin doctor. Not something you can really hang a movie on, you say? Boring? Oh, no. Not in the capable hands of Sidney Lumet. He grabs an all-star cast of St. John's clients, an all-star cast of their adversaries, installs Gene Hackman as St. John's previous mentor and current rival, and simply sits back and lets an election year unfold in Ohio (with a few detours to other states and a quick trip south of the border for spice). Add in star turns from then-risi... Read more

I was educated, enlightened and entertained by this film two decades ago, and I still am. The lines in it are witty and they capture a political life perfectly. There are a lot of great moments - the pollster/computer guy Ralph explaining his work to candidate Fritz Weaver, Gere chastising a governor's assistant for petty bureaucratic moves which could jeopardize the campaign, Hackman drunkenly chastising Gere about taking on perverted candidates, Christie ferreting out E.G. Marshall's reasons for senate retirement.... Yes, there are a lot of plots and it can get chaotic. But that is so true of political campaign life. I love the pieces where they create television ads for the candidates. Brilliant, brilliant film. Why aren't there more films from writer David Himmelstein?!

As a lifelong fan of Mr. Washington I bought the movie to round out my collection. Didn't like the movie--the concept if PR people (Richard Gere, Gene Hackman) going to such extreme measures--aagh! Denzel's role was very minor. Disappointing movie; glad I didn't pay any money to see it.

I actually bought this DVD over a year ago but just decided to watch it. I'm a huge fan of Sidney Lumet, and I like Richard Gere, Gene Hackman, and the other stars in the film. About 30 mins. into the movie the picture started distorting, and after that it would skip large chunks of the movie. There was nothing visibly wrong with the DVD itself. But, I saw enough. Even before I reached the defective part, it was like watching a foreign film without subtitles. I had almost no clue what was going on, and didn't really care after a while. I can usually watch almost anything, most movies have some redeeming quality - for example, maybe an exotic, interesting locale. This is largely set in New Mexico. No offense to New Mexicans, but skip this. I threw it away.

Numbah has this mind set that he is The Hand of Justice when we are on the road.

Someday, I'm going to take over the world. I love power, and it will soon be all mine.

The problem with power is not its existance; indeed it is a good motivator and can be used to bind people together to achieve common ends. Problem is when leaders decide to use power indulgently and irresponsibly. What separates the mediocre from the best is the ability to sacrifice for the public good rather than use the public for personal ends. Power held in the right hands can accomplish great things.

If you have power and use it to accomplish the greater good, its a wonderful thing to have. But using power in petty or destructive ways is wrong.

It's human nature to crave power and there's nothing wrong with it. The problem comes to play when you get power and abuse or misuse it.

I've never really felt a need for power. Whenever power was given to me I'd always hand the reins over to someone else.