Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Session 2 - Politics equals corruption?

Politics is generally seen as a dirty activity when being performed in the government, it being assumed that with power comes corruption. Lord Acton said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Yet politics and the exercise of power must exist everywhere, in not only states and governments, but also in all the other social interactions of our lives, even at home. In a typical family, there will be one person practicing power over others because he or she is stronger in one way, and because of the powerful position of that individual, he or she may exploit the other, even if they are family, in ways that suit him. In the generally patriarchal society, the men have the power to exploit women, because they know who has the power and who is the weaker in the interaction. Since that too is exercising power and with the women fighting back for their rights, there is an attempt to resolve the issues, this not only shows that politics everywhere, but also that the practice of corruption is everywhere, not only in government offices.

2 comments:

Naush said...

Power indeed exists everywhere, but it does not necessarily lead to corruption. However, abuse of power does lead to corruption and this is a perpetual issue of concern.

Unknown said...

It is true that power, politics exists everywhere. However, it's not essential that it leads to corruption. In our country, women are oppressed because they are considered inferior to men. Women's right to live is conditional on abiding the social norms and values our society embraces.