Blog #15 by novelist Jeremy Logan — POWER

Blog #15 by novelist Jeremy Logan -- Power
JeremyLoganBooks.com

I thought I would digress from previous blogs and focus on the use of power, and I don't mean electrical, nuclear, or that sort. Between me and my dog I have ultimate power.  That adorable animal thinKs I'm it's deity.  How I choose to wield that power says a lot about me.

One can focus their gaze in just about any direction and observe how the use of power for personal gain corrupts everything and everyone that supports it. Look at all the countries that cannot seem to overcome the legacy of power that corrupts. This era we can look at a country, Egypt, struggling to transform that legacy from corruption to democracy. One of the dominating factors in determining the outcome is the power to control information. Smart phones and other internet accessing devices appear to be changing that dynamic. Debate and dissent on the internet is now available to the populace. Because of that it appears that the population is not so easily deceived by propaganda and lies as it has in the past. In my opinion, that is what the Arab Spring is all about.

I am watching with great interest to see how it turns out there.  Will it create a climate for a true democracy to sustain itself? I believe it will, eventually.  If it does, it could be the most transformative event of the 21st century.  It seems to me that if Egypt can do it, that would establish the model that changes other countries from their totalitarian system to democracy.  And where I say change, I am not thinking immediate change. It will take several years to evaluate the transformation of Egypt, if in fact, it makes the transformation.

I envision a century of upheaval, coups, warfare and strife as the populations of other countries try to duplicate the Egyptian transformation.  I won't live long enough to see the total effect of this phenomena. I only pray that America, its allies, and the other powers on the planet resist trying to force it one way or the other. It seems to me that the transformation won't last unless it's organic in each country.

Turning your gaze to other power sources like the power of parents, we can illustrate the subtle effects of it. The parental unit, whether one or several, eventually affects the character of the offspring.  There are plenty of surveys that confirm it, but you don't need a survey to figure it out. If we treat out children with kindness and rational judgment we produce kindhearted, rational adults equipped to face the challenges of the world. We have the power to make that difference.

It's the same in domestic politics. How our leaders wield their power determines our trajectory as a nation. If we support a culture where elected officials are not held accountable for poor judgment, we encourage them to wield their power indiscriminately, and in ways that benefits them and not us. Party affiliation doesn't matter. We must vote for those whose vision lifts the entire nation toward a path of advancement, equally, not just for some, but for all of us.

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