We all know that power can corrupt persons, but there is also a positive aspect to power when it is used for the sake of love and justice in beloved community.  

If for nothing else, people know of Lord Acton for his famous assertion that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” but I would argue that some forms of power corrupt while other forms do not.  Power for the sake of power corrupts, but power for the sake of love and justice empowers others. 

The negative aspect of power is when it is used to exploit and dominate others for the sake of personal gain. The use of power without love and justice diminishes our individual humanity and the well-being of humanity in general. One of the most significant reasons we have lost our way as a nation is because we have embraced the use of power for the sake of gaining more power rather than for the sake of love and justice.

So many U.S. Americans worship money because they worship power, and money is the easiest way to quantify and measure power. The extreme wealth inequality within our society is the result of extreme power inequality, and this will only be solved if power is guided by love towards justice, and justice here entails transforming the systems that perpetuate extreme wealth and power inequality. 

One of the least favorite passages of the wealthy and powerful in the Christian Bible is Paul’s assertion in I Timothy 6:10 that “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”  The love money is the root all kinds of evil because it is the love of power for power’s sake rather than the use of power for the sake of people and the community of all creation. 

One of the other least favorite passages in the Christian Bible for the wealthy and powerful is Matthew 19:22 where Jesus is portrayed as telling a rich man: “If you want to be complete, go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come follow me.” I interpret this as a story about the importance of not clinging to the wealth and power that keeps us from meeting the needs of the poor and following the way of love and justice that brings good news to the poor and liberation for the oppressed. If one is not ready to use their wealth and power to bring good news to the poor and liberation, then one is not using their power for the creation of a just and beloved community.

It is no accident that so many of the most wealthy and powerful persons in the world are the least concerned about the most vulnerable among us or about the well being of the earth. Many of the most powerful persons have gained their wealth and power by  exploiting others in an extractive economy that treats people and nature as commodities rather than as a beloved community. Some of them have become so fixated on wealth and power that they have become outright nihilistic and willing to keep profiting from the destruction of humanity and much of life on earth. Instead of sharing their power for the well being of all, they are making as much as they can and building bunkers to prepare for the economic and ecological collapse they are creating. 

Somewhat like the Borg in Star Trek, the most powerful among us would love nothing more than for the rest of us to come to the conclusion that resistance is futile and that we should just give up and give in and be assimilated into their vision of what they want their world to be for them. The use of artificial intelligence is part of this nihilistic vision. AI will diminish our critical thinking and our ability to participate in meaningful work. It will continue to concentrate wealth into the hands of a very few people while literally running a very real risk of annihilating humanity and much of life on earth.

Clearly the oligarchs’ view of power is deeply anti-democratic, which is why so many of the wealthy and powerful have become openly hostile towards democracy and are embracing autocracy around the world. A truly just and participatory democracy is a direct threat to the perpetuation and expansion of their power. 

And this is precisely why we can never give up or give in to the autocratic and nihilistic vision thrust on us by the most powerful people in the world. If we give up on participating in the work to make a better world, we are ceding even more power to those who are perpetuating harm and injustice in our world. The power of the people and the power of love working for justice can and will overcome the power of the ones who seek power simply for the sake of power. I still believe that beloved community is possible and that we shall overcome.