You can't force anyone
to love you
or lend you money.
- Jewish expression

Many people believe that power is in the hands of those who have climbed the corporate or political ladder. However, this may not be the case. One may argue that your power is reduced as you climb higher and higher.

In today’s dog-eat-dog world the people on the top are the most vulnerable. If anything goes wrong, whether it’s their fault or not, it is the people on top who may be punished for events that happened, even if they are not of their own doing or directly involved. When a person must be punished for things that go wrong in a corporate or political structure, the one on top receives the punishment, irrelevant of whether it is justified.

This is strange situation. People look up to those on top, asking them for assistance, protektziya, or other types of favors. They feel that those on the top of the ladder must have superior contacts. However, such is not the case. In the political world the situation is worse. The party that is on top one year may be on the bottom the next year. That party is made up of individuals, who may now have to look for a different job.

In these cases, those in power do not seem to have real control over the situation. Those in lower positions find stability and continuity.

A similar situation occurs throughout history. Empires with great power crumbled whereas other smaller entities replaced them.

This humbling situation raises concerns about the future of any power. The way that we see power in our limited vision differs from reality.

The person at the top of his power always has to look out for others who want to reduce his status. He may live a very troubled life. For all his power, he is quite weak.

Perhaps power should be measured by the ability of a person to know his own future; where he will be in a month, a year, a decade, or the rest of his life; which schools his children will go to, and where he will live. That person may have greater power than another who is blown around by circumstances, whims, fate, and pressures from many others.

Politics