‽istis reclaims power (weekending April 2nd 2022)
This week, ‽istis ponders power, again – through some found quotations (1):
‽ 'The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.' Edmund Burke
‽ 'Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.' Leonardo da Vinci
‽ 'The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.' Alice Walker
‽ 'Power doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power.' William Gaddis
‽ 'Silence and invisibility go hand in hand with powerlessness.' Audre Lorde
‽ 'The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility.' Vaclav Havel
‽ 'Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.' Paulo Freire
‽ 'What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you use it? To whom are you accountable? How do we get rid of you?' Tony Benn (2)
And, as these are relatively easily accessible, offered by search engines and algorithms, perhaps that is because of the working out of some sort of power: of ideas; of assertion; of claimed or given authority; of recognition, resonance and relevance; possibly even because they provide some sort of tried and tested ‘truth’?
It may be helpful to ponder different sources of power - references to 7, 10, 8 or 4 types are easily found with a quick browse (3) - but let’s go this week with the seven presented on the apparently powerful and influential Forbes website (4):
Titular (formal, legitimate, holding a position)
Coercive (the power to punish)
Reward (the power to reward)
Referent (being well liked, referred to)
Connection (it may indeed be who you know or are known to?)
Informational (having insight or information that others do not have)
Expert (being able to do things better or when you have a particular expertise)
‽istis ponders on and wonders whether ultimately power in many forms and guises and from many sources perhaps generally provides influence - to get things done, to not have to cede or concede‽
And ‽istis is left wondering how different the world could potentially be if more and others' words about power (especially perhaps from more usually powerless voices) were to be heard and could influence (4), if others' 'truths' could possibly be spoken to power and to the powerful...
And ‽istis tries to imagine what they might say. What do you think‽
© Pistis
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog
entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
1) These taken from: https://www.brainyquote.com/lists/topics/top-10-power-quotes & https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/powerlessness.html - plenty of other quotations and sources are available; what can you find?
2) References found include: https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tony-benn-dead-five-questions-power-other-memorable-quotes-1440277
3) https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/powerlessness.html
5) E.g: 'I raise up my voice—not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.' Malala Yousafzai https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a4056/empowering-female-quotes/
