WHO HAS THE POWER? (part 1)

WHO HAS THE POWER?

I am on a quest, once again, to answer the questions that most matter. Having experienced millions of thoughts that often bombard me with just as much questions, I have pondered on the following question: Who has the POWER?

DEFINITION:

According to the Oxford Dictionary, POWER is defined as “ability to do or act;vigour;energy;control;influence;ascendancy;authority;influential person etc.”

But I will focus on the following definitions:
Control
Influence
Authority
Influential person


Inspired by the movie/book Lord of the flies (William Golding, 1954) and a fascinating book by author Richard Calland ,Anatomy of South Africa –Who Holds the Power?; I have been doing some extensive research on the subject. I intend on doing more research, but for now, I have reached this conclusion.


Let’s look at the movie: Lord of the Flies (1954)

BACKGROUND STORY:
A plane full of British schoolboys is shot down over a small tropical island during a raging world war.
The boys survive, unhurt, apart from society and all they know. This also means no authority or rules for them. However these boys aim to organise themselves, they find food, water and take care of each other.

In contrast to the image the boys depict in the beginning; they fall prey to a human tendency of violence and some of the boys compete for leadership. Eventually they start fighting with one another and like savages; they go to war against each other.

According to Richard Lippa; the author of the book, Introduction to social psychology; the movie falls under the chapter AGGRESSION and rightly so. Conversely, in my opinion, this movie can also fall under the category POWER!


WHY?
The ego of the boy’s surface and this leads to war and violence in order to gain power, the final word, authority, control, influence.

As a result, some of the boys either fear or respect the ultimate leader, hence they view the protagonist /antagonist (depending on the way you look at it) as a higher figure of authority and we all know that FOLLOWERS =POWER!
Therefore these boys posses the mentality that their freedom of choice is limited.

CONCLUDING THEORY:

Ego/ selfishness = Desire for Power=War =Obtaining Power= Being Feared/Respected as a higher figure of authority = Followers feeling a lack of freedom of choice