Power Always Corrupts the One Who Holds It REVISED

Power. It can save a thousand lives and ruin a thousand lives in the blink of an eye. In a split second, the holder of that power can be corrupted, lost to the world and all of reality, when a person becomes drunk with power; they think they are in all ways invincible, untouchable, because they are on top. There are very few leaders that I can proudly look up to because of the fact that even the slightest way, power can truly corrupt all that hold it. Even the smallest position of authority can corrupt; teacher, manager at a fast food restaurant, even the leader in a group for a school project, everyone has the potential to get out of hand.

          Although there are some situations where I haven't seen power corrupt. President Obama has done a good job to protect and run the United States without treating some unfair. I look at my own father as a role model. He's the owner of his own company; he is a kind, understanding, and just leader of his company. His abilities to be fair have given him not only a successful company, but he is also the first chairman of the Automotive Retailers Association of British Columbia. I'm proud to have someone who is such a great person when it comes to leading others as my Dad. However, not all are like this.

          Julius Caesar is a fantastic example of a corrupt leader. He became a dictator, yet with his charm, he found a way to still make Rome follow him. There have been too many leaders like this to count. Some more memorable names of corrupt leaders are people like Joseph Kony who is the leader of the Lord's Residence Army in Uganda, George W. Bush, the previous president of the United States, and of course, the one most probably know best, Kim Jong Un, the current dictating leader of South Korea. All of these people were given the opportunity to make something good, pure, and honest yet they used it to their own advantage instead.

          You can find corrupt leaders who have become drunk with power in any situation. I have a friend, lets call him Caesar, who was given a position of leadership and responsibility, at first it was great but then he started demanding more respect for the things he did. He demanded recognition and in my opinion became out of control. He treated people unfairly because he thought he could. Now I had another friend who I am going to call Brutus. Brutus despised how Caesar was acting, yet once Caesar's position was passed down to Brutus, he became just like Caesar but worse. He began to cause problems, decide on things that nobody else agreed with, but because he had the authority, he would make these things happen, but worst of all, he treated people he didn't like unfairly. This is the definition of a corrupt leader.

Now although not every leader is going to become corrupt or drunk with power, most in history have in some way or another. Like my friends Caesar and Brutus for example, although they are not the real Caesar and Brutus, seeing as their level of corruptness is not nearly as deep as Julius Caesar's, they still found themselves corrupted. It can happen to anyone around you, it can even happen to you, one day you might find yourself offered a position of power, you can say all you want that it won't corrupt you, but it most likely will in some way or another. Power always corrupts the one who holds it, a simple saying that some believe sums up everything. Corruption and power are both apart of life, yet getting past corruption is apart of it all too.