I’m a big fan of the movie Starship Troopers. A lot of people hate it. A lot of people don’t think much of Paul Verhoeven as a director. I think his movies are a bit campy and that they are exactly what he is going for. After seeing his movie version of Starship Troopers I was inspired to read the book on which it was based. The book, by Robert A. Heinlein, was published in 1959. I really enjoyed it as well. The book has some very thought provoking ideas on war and violence. The movie touches on these but you get a lot more from the book. (Isn’t that always the case?)
I saw the movie for the first time in 1997. I read the book a couple of years later. I’ve seen the movie again a few times since. I was surprised to find myself thinking about both of them this morning. In the movie there is a quote, “violence is the ultimate power, from which all other power is derived.” This is not in the book. The book actually says, “Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst.” Either way the gist is clear; violence can and will be used to derive power. I was wondering though, is it the ultimate power?
I decided that I first needed to define power as it related to this discussion that I was having with myself. I figured that I would define power as “the ability to control another person.” What are the ways to do this? Certainly violence can be used to control others and there are plenty of historical precedents that prove this out. As I thought through them however, I found that it is an unsustainable power. It can only be used short term. Going in a very different direction, I considered love as form of gaining power. I decided that love, or even the perception of love, can certainly give someone a great deal of power. The person who is loved has the power; the person who loves is giving the power. This means that in order to achieve power in this way, you need to make someone love you. I tried to decide what other ways someone might achieve power. The only other one I came up with was manipulation. I would include in this all of the various forms of appeasement. In the end I decided that all power is fleeting, at least for us humans.
I don't really agree with your definition of power. I see power more as strength - physical or emotional - and how it is used as the issue.
ReplyDeleteClearly there are those in our society who use violence and equate it to power. I tend to think they use violence because they feel as if they have no inner strength. Just because they can beat you up, doesn't mean they have the power to change what is in the heart and mind.
In loving someone, you are sharing your power with them. Love does not equal giving something up, but sharing something, and sometimes sharing means taking a risk.
Power is not fleeting, but ebbs and flows like most things in life.