Whoever takes hold of the reins of a State or any immense structure of power immediately places themselves in a position of infinite ethical vulnerability. Yet a recurring moral justification among those who govern or aspire to govern is that…
There is a strange constant in human history: the greater the power, the lighter the sense of responsibility seems to become. As men rise into the spheres of command, they imagine themselves freed from the moral weight each person carries…
There is a strange illness that touches almost every age, every people, and almost every individual: the fascination with power. Crowds push and jostle, even kill each other, to seize the reins of the Leviathan, that monstrous creature we call…
Modern societies take pride in their institutions. They praise elections, parliaments, and the supposed transparency of democratic mechanisms. They claim to have found in these procedures the best protection against tyranny and arbitrariness. Yet, on closer inspection, a disturbing truth…
One might think there is an exception to the critique of power. That against the greed of ordinary opportunists, a certain kind of individual redeems the whole enterprise: young idealists, convinced that governing is the way to transform the world,…