The Paradox Of Power

I've just finished studying a large chunk of the Pentateuch, also called the Torah. It has struck me (as it no doubt has struck millions before me) that these books of the early Old Testament say a lot more about power and humanity than many of the others do. They say it in a way that is more raw, more naked than commonly seen or perceived.

Almost always, it is a struggle between legitimate power which must not be overused and subversive power which pushes its limits. Sometimes, other kinds of power and shades of the three main kinds of power compete.

One of my juniors has it right about the circumscribing paradox of power. You can either use it or not; its misuse means loss of power, and so does its rightful use when perceived as unjust. Then again, can rightful use ever be unjust? It is hard to know. In the book of Job, it always appears unfair, that the deck is stacked against a humanity that can never find the right answer to the paradox. At the same time, acceptance of the conclusion found therein leads us to believe that there is a right answer—power can only be fully used where knowledge and wisdom are complete.

This is where we humans muck things up. We have a love of ultimate power that is unrivalled by any love of ultimate knowledge or ultimate wisdom in its ubiquity. We will never attain any of these ultimates, but the quest for the first has been the source of corruption and the undoing of many since the very beginning. What a burden, this paradox of power is for a fallen humanity!

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Note: No, I am not the senior that my junior is blogging about. And yes, I am slowly becoming a source of knowledge about the legitimate and illegitimate uses of power within complex organisations. Not that it will ever be enough.