link to original reddit post by /u/ihaphleas
We all know the old quote about "power corrupts" ... and probably some of you know the quote about "power attracts the corruptible."
Neither of these is quite true. There is a recent video by What I've Learned about the difference between power and status. And, while he makes some good points, I think he makes a very important mistake.
Essentially borrowing the definition of power from physics, power is just the ability to get work done quickly. Power is the ability to get shit done. It's the ability to get a house built, for example. It's the ability to get good things for yourself and those around you in a timely fashion. Strength, wealth, intelligence, these are all things that confer more power.
There are many other things that I could say about power, but it's clear that while power can be used for evil, we must also become more powerful to do more good. It should also be clear that power, the ability to do work quickly, is not a zero-sum game. If I become more powerful, this doesn't make you less powerful. It simply means that I have the ability to get more done ... perhaps even for you.
Status, on the other hand, *is* a zero-sum game. Status being simply the hierarchy between two (or a group of) people. It is clear that raising the status of one must lower the status of another ... and that these status hierarchies have very little to do with the actual power available to the group. Starving cavemen had status hierarchies and modern billionaires have hierarchies ... and the difference between their levels of power is enormous.
It is, of course, clear that in most groups having relatively more power confers more status and, likewise, having more status can confer more power --- in the sense that people are more likely to help you get done the things you want to get done.
It also seems that envy is focused not on power, but on status. And I think this is a problem. We tend to talk to people about the market not being a zero-sum game ... and wealth and power are not. But status, which is the actual object of envy, actually is.
And it is status that attracts the corruptible ... not power.