Why Are Powerful People So Terrible?
A new book: ‘Corruptible‘ by Brian Klaas
I just picked up Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us by Brian Klaas, a professor of global politics at University College London. He devoted his new book to four questions:
“First, do worse people get power? Second, does power make people worse? Third, why do we let people control us who clearly have no business being in control? Fourth, how can we ensure that incorruptible people get into power and wield it justly?”
These carefully chosen questions have great depth. Their exploration in Corruptible is, by the way, highly readable.
Are terrible people attracted to power, or does power make them terrible?
These first two questions focus — or, we might tend to assume that they do — on an elite few who can generally be considered powerful.
Who pursues power? What makes them crave it or, at least, to show up for it? Does that mean there’s something wrong or dangerous about them to begin with? What distasteful, illegal, awful things do they have to do to acquire money, fame, and control over others? As their power grows, do they become more selfish, cruel, and ruthless?
