• cerement@slrpnk.net
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    1 year ago

    “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.”

    —Lord Acton, Letter to Bishop Creighton (1887)

    • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I wish wisdom were a requirement of leaders.

      At least the bare minimum of aknowledging reality would be nice…

        • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Nah, it’s easy to spot people who don’t actually have skill.

          People just LOVE to give others the benefit of the doubt. To the detriment of all.

    • randomname01@feddit.nl
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      1 year ago

      But guys, Linus swears there’s no need for a union. He’ll just wield the power responsibly and with care, unlike all those other people.

    • jamkey@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      This is not my thesis but someone else’s but as a counterpoint to this platitude, look at the difference between Lincoln versus Nixon. Both were leaders at pivotal times but they took very different ethical directions. Sometimes character and background DOES matter and we SHOULD expect more of our leaders. Just assuming they will all be corrupt makes up disengage from the process.