The craze for power.

Each day, we read in newspapers of people being killed. We often say that life is constantly changing. Yet, what is the difference between our fore-fathers’ time and the so-called civilized twenty-first century? In terms of violence and death, there is not much difference.There are still many people being killed. There is still a lot of violence, maybe more.

Do we not have governmental bodies to organize law enforcement? Do we not have armies to protect our country? Do we not have a United Nations to safe-guard the world?

Yes, we do. But we still have countries waging war on others. We still have terrorists and pirates to kill and plunder. We still have people ready to murder for one reason or another. So, how effective are our organized bodies?

We have religions to teach the people love for God. We have them understand that all creatures, big and small are the creations of God. We are all one big family, people of God. To show one’s love of God, there should be a healthy respect for God’s creations. Yet, each day, we read that somewhere on this planet someone is being killed in the name of God.

Schools, colleges and universities are built to install the best brains of all possible subjects so as to spread knowledge. Through this knowledge, we hope to develop better understanding of life on this planet. Yet, some of the men of violence come from such institutions.

So, where have we gone wrong? Yes, we have done everything possible to make this world a better place but we have not changed the instincts of Man. Inside every human, educated or otherwise, lies the desire for power.

To be powerful, Man needs to lead by good or foul means. It does not matter which , to some. So, there are those who become political leaders while there are some who become gang leaders. One uses brains while the other uses brawn. To hold on to leadership we see how such leaders can resort to all kinds of tactics to kill off the opposition in other parties or in the same party. In certain countries, we read of supporters of opposition leaders being killed with guns. This happens in gangs too. Leaders are killed so that another may take his place. And if the plot is exposed earlier, the aspiring gangster and his supporters could be killed to prevent power from being lost by the reigning gangster.

Sometimes, leaders of certain countries decide to wage war to achieve a particular objective which could be popularity among his people. Such a decision could also be due to a need to prevent an erosion of his power.

Nowadays, religion has been used as a tool to gain power in certain regions or the world. Since fighting for such kind of power is difficult to be done in the open, we have terrorists who kill sometimes innocent people, and even people who are of the same religion as the terrorists, just to achieve popularity and power in their groups.

Even the small man or woman desires power. Such demonstration of these people’s need for people manifests itself in road terrorism and road bullying.

Of course, when it comes to bullying, this starts at a very young age. The stronger ones bully the weaker ones at home among the siblings, then at school and eventually in the workplace or in society. So, this trait of power exhibits itself early in life. It is not that the weaker ones are too good to resort to such behavior; it is just that they know they dio not have the brawn to dominate others.

Well, this instinct to dominate, to have power over others starts from young and continue to exhibit itself in one way or another throughout life whenever the opportunity to do so arises. And all our problems come from this human instinct which is also very essential for survival.

Is there anything else anyone wishes to add to the above. I’ll appreciate it very much if you can do so.