Power – the ultimate driver in human interaction

Join me in my discovery of what power means to life.

Motto: “All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
(by John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton)

I think that everything in life has to do with the concept of power. In every relation that involves human interaction (be it professional or personal), there is a negotiation involved. And this thing also involves a concept of powers. One must negotiate his (or hers) status, rights and obligations. Which things am I allowed to do? There’s a negotiation on this.

Things get trickier when one party has a lot more power and abuses this power. How does this translate into everyday life?
a. Google was chosen best employer in the USA because it gave his employees a lot of playground area; Sure, Google has enormous powers over its employees, but he does give them well enough freedom to fully act on the job; He lets go of his powers, and empowers others;
b. In personal life, I think I personally get along best with people I can control a little (they let things go my way); How do I do this? By also giving up things on my own (I let things go their way);
c. In most of the times when there is an argument, some party abuses its power controls.

What I like most about power is that it is so closely related to being proud. The logic goes like this:
a. (pride) I am better than you / so good / the greatest / the ultimate – so this means
b. (power) I have the option exert power on you, thus I have to do it.

It’s a faulty logic on both levels:
a. You are not better than any one living person on this Earth; on a core level, we’re all the same; You can have better skills, ethics, behaviour, resources; But on a core level, people are right about equals;
b. The fact that you can exert power on me, doesn’t mean you have to do it; You also have the option not to do it; Do it and problems arise.

Or at least that’s how I see things right now. How about you? What’s power in your life?