this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2026
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Power does tempt people to abuse it, and they regularly give in to that temptation. While I'm not in agreement with the person you are arguing with, I do believe people cannot be trusted with power, and therefore there need to be checks, and recourse, and the more power a person has, the more they need to be monitored rather than trusted. (Police are an example. Politicians are and example. Hollywood producers area an example.)
There is also a selection mechanism at play. People who like to abuse power seek it out.
I don't think either of these are actual phenomena, or at least I haven't seen hard evidence of it. I do know that people act in their own interest and can abuse their positions, so of course checks have to be in place, but the idea that administrative power over time turns people into abusers of power is not actually supported via evidence.