Earliest record has Influence as a borrowed word from the French language around 14 century AD as an astrological term. Streaming ethereal power from the stars acting upon the character or destiny of men was described by Webster. This was when understanding of celestial or astrological bodies were more folklore and religious in origin than fact based science. One could attribute a more indirect, persuasive or even mystical intonations to it although later usage does imply the inclusion of power as one of the components.
Power on the hand according to Merriam has its etymology from a vulgar Latin root word possibly equivalent to modern day potent. It has paw prints synonymously with the likes of authority, possession, control of, establishment and most importantly force. A possible diametric complement to imply use of a large force instead of sporadic or individual sustenance can also be reasonably attributed.
The Orwellian maxim of absolute power corrupts absolutely and the USA constitution on the right to bear arms must have some parallelism as the first major constitution of republican origin. The last major preceding was most probably the magna carter under a royalist backdrop where not all man are born equal. The central theme is not gun control or anywhere near that for the matter.
Influence generally have to be earned constantly and would ebb as quickly if not faster than it rises so it is less of an issue. Power once attained can be monopolized or entrenched ad infinitum legitimately, illegitimately or pseudo legitimately. Power like opium is highly addictive and a reading of political history from ancient times to recent past will attest.
Democracy is the governance through the will of the majority represented by their candidates through regular elections for a term of about 4 - 6 years generally. The minority will therefore have to live with the will of the majority so long as their basic human endeavors are not trespassed grossly. A direct democracy is not sustainable save perhaps in utopia.
Limits on term of government like in USA to 2 terms is a possible safeguard though not perfect as a puppet or proxy could very well overcome the limitations but it is not easily mounted. The bigger challenge of limited term is the challenges of seat warming by office bearers in their final term for which there is no easy answer. If auditors of public or listed companies are beginning to be rotated, why mot politicians.
Another apparatus is the segregation between, executive branch consisting of the politicians voted into office, civil service which must be apolitical and serve the executive branch within legislature. A good read or watch of the twin volume/serial of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister by BBC would provide good public education on it in a comical setting. Last but not least is the judiciary for which independence is like the capstone of ancient architecture. Though small as compared to the rest, its absence can cause the entire structure to collapse.
There are no easy answers to such difficult questions nor should there be confrontational my way or highway which is so ancient, archaic and infantile especially for elected office bearers. A more congenial way is a good way forward as it will make the process of any power transition less painful. Unless the incumbent is hopelessly addicted and only intends to stay forever.
Peter Lye aka lkypeter
lkypeter@gmail.com Safe Harbor. Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Peter Lye (c) Peter Lye 2014
Power on the hand according to Merriam has its etymology from a vulgar Latin root word possibly equivalent to modern day potent. It has paw prints synonymously with the likes of authority, possession, control of, establishment and most importantly force. A possible diametric complement to imply use of a large force instead of sporadic or individual sustenance can also be reasonably attributed.
The Orwellian maxim of absolute power corrupts absolutely and the USA constitution on the right to bear arms must have some parallelism as the first major constitution of republican origin. The last major preceding was most probably the magna carter under a royalist backdrop where not all man are born equal. The central theme is not gun control or anywhere near that for the matter.Influence generally have to be earned constantly and would ebb as quickly if not faster than it rises so it is less of an issue. Power once attained can be monopolized or entrenched ad infinitum legitimately, illegitimately or pseudo legitimately. Power like opium is highly addictive and a reading of political history from ancient times to recent past will attest.
Democracy is the governance through the will of the majority represented by their candidates through regular elections for a term of about 4 - 6 years generally. The minority will therefore have to live with the will of the majority so long as their basic human endeavors are not trespassed grossly. A direct democracy is not sustainable save perhaps in utopia.
Limits on term of government like in USA to 2 terms is a possible safeguard though not perfect as a puppet or proxy could very well overcome the limitations but it is not easily mounted. The bigger challenge of limited term is the challenges of seat warming by office bearers in their final term for which there is no easy answer. If auditors of public or listed companies are beginning to be rotated, why mot politicians.
Another apparatus is the segregation between, executive branch consisting of the politicians voted into office, civil service which must be apolitical and serve the executive branch within legislature. A good read or watch of the twin volume/serial of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister by BBC would provide good public education on it in a comical setting. Last but not least is the judiciary for which independence is like the capstone of ancient architecture. Though small as compared to the rest, its absence can cause the entire structure to collapse.
There are no easy answers to such difficult questions nor should there be confrontational my way or highway which is so ancient, archaic and infantile especially for elected office bearers. A more congenial way is a good way forward as it will make the process of any power transition less painful. Unless the incumbent is hopelessly addicted and only intends to stay forever.
lkypeter@gmail.com Safe Harbor. Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Peter Lye (c) Peter Lye 2014
