My wife Kathy was one of the sweetest, gentlest souls I've ever known. So I would occasionally cause chagrin on her part when I would say she had a strong need for power. She would demur. I would remark that every human being has this need in common. She would demur. I said, “Ok then, tomorrow I'm throwing away all your Beanie Babies plus I'm going to completely rearrange the house.” Quickly she would concede that she had some power needs after all.
In
the 60's it was common for “flower children” to berate those in
authority and the establishment as power driven. It is obvious that
the flower children's drive for perfect freedom from authority and
the establishment was itself a profound drive for virtually limitless
power.
The
sacredness of private property is also testimony to the need for
power. We feel personally raped (over-powered and violated) when
private property is taken from us without our will whether legally or
illegally.
When
a child is forced to go into time-out or a toy is confiscated because
of an infraction of rules, the consternation of the child in this
loss of power can be severe.
I
was distraught last month when Kathy passed away. Grieving is a
complex phenomenon and I don't want to oversimplify it.
Nevertheless, a large part of grief is losing someone who endowed us
with the considerable power that derives from loyalty, love, respect,
and the important factor of being needed. When Kathy passed, I lost
much such power and this was a significant part of my grief.
Of
course in the political world the loss of power is often striven to
be avoided as death itself. This equation with death releases
homicidal violence in desperate efforts to retain power.
Much
human behavior can be usefully studied as being driven by power
needs.
Print Page
