Saturday, December 16, 2006
Power
There are two kinds of power; Power that is earned when a product or service is exchanged through mutual consent. This is ultimately an exchange of power but if one or a few people exchange with many, the one or few can accumulate great power (yes, "money is power"). The other method of gaining power is by seizing it or having it bestowed (bestowed power is ultimately seized in one way or another – i.e. taxes – and given to the lackeys of choice). If any exchange takes place at all in power by fiat, it is on the terms of one side and does not necessarily involve consent (more often than not, it doesn't). Of course, one or a few can seize power and gain control over many, not because the many have chosen to engage in a transaction but because they have fallen prey to trickery, force, or oppression.
To be envious or resentful of another's power is common in human nature but one would hope others would discern the difference between power fairly attained through joint transaction and that gained through ruthless and deliberate force – the power attained and bestowed by the political class.
Power attained though mutual private transaction is natural, just, efficient, and good. Power by state decree and political coercion is a great evil used to impose the will of tyrants upon the "self-evident" natural liberty of individuals.
