Review

POWER VS. POWERLESSNESS

Written by Mason Plotts

In one of the most critically acclaimed television shows in recent cinema, House of Cards, Frank Underwood, the ruthless politician who is unflinching in his climb to the top, discusses the difference between money and power. He says, “Money is the McMansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart after ten years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries. I cannot respect someone who doesn’t see the difference.”  This quote immediately resonated with me and forced me to consider my own beliefs about power and corruption.

The political power, or rather, social power which Frank Underwood seeks is not what drives the majority of Americans. Rather than seek total reign over a population, we fight for personal power. The empowerment over our own lives is indeed the “stone building that stands for centuries.” It is one’s own feeling of powerlessness on an individual level that makes one susceptible to corruption.

The concept of personal power has many dimensions. Feelings of powerlessness may come from feeling suffocated by a lack of economic resources and being forced to become dependent upon others. They may come from being limited by a substandard education, racial discrimination, and/or geographical boundaries. All of these factors may contribute to an overwhelming feeling that no matter what one does, it will have a minimal effect on one’s circumstances. This mindset fuels a lack of motivation to become empowered. Powerlessness causes alienation, despair, hopelessness and resentment.

Power fails to protect us from corruption, but true empowerment of the human spirit fights back corruption.  When the hopelessness of a situation entrenches itself in the minds and hearts of humans, corruption and lawlessness become options.  It is at these crossroads of despair in our life that we are faced with choices. Human beings long for a distraction or morally unsound solution to save them from sadness and destruction. It is in these moments that people turn to drugs, manipulation, murder, theft, etc. People want to feel like they have choices. People want to feel in control over their own lives.

Feelings of powerlessness can often lead to cultural crisis.  No better example of this exists than the current situation in Ferguson, Missouri.  The tragic death of an unarmed black teenager involved in an altercation with a white police officer has made a city and possibly a country face the consequences of powerlessness through racial injustice.  While individuals are angry on both sides of the issue, feelings of powerlessness in the black community have brought many to the crossroads of despair. Some have chosen to empower themselves and their community through organized protests and marches, yet others feel completely powerless and have turned to violence.

Empowerment of the individual then is the stone structure of our lives.  While the sense of empowerment begins within us, it should be our goal as a society to give empowerment to the powerless.