Double Edged Sword [2022]

Power comes in many forms and at many levels. It can do a great deal of good, and it can also be devastating. I would like to explorer power and how it affects us at different
levels. I’m certain we’ve all heard the rhetoric that politicians are bad, government policies are bad, our bosses are bad, and so on. Maybe we even contributed to this idea. So, to what extent is it true?

First let’s discuss power in the hands of world leaders. Many of us fall prey to their empty promises on the campaign trail assuring ourselves that maybe this one won’t use
the office exclusively to enrich himself until the people are so unhappy that they finally remove him from office. It’s a common line we repeat to ourselves at election time most people want a strong man to guard the gates at any cost. We don’t care what they stand for as long as they stand and make a speech reaffirming our beliefs. There are enough examples in our country itself to prove this point but by no means is it a domestic problem. However not all the fault lies with the people. World leaders make terrible decisions and never cease to want to revel in success no matter what the price. For example, Putin is decimating Ukraine to extend Russia’s sphere of influence and in the process has right so many people’s lives. But the effect of the Russia Ukraine war
doesn’t end there, humanitarian aid from international organizations is being
directed to Ukraine. This has left many places that needed the aid starving.
Somalia is suffering under the unbearable number of famines it has had recently.

Thousands of children die daily due to lack of food. And it need not be this way. Politicians can work on expanding air campaigns and funding. Whether they will do that is a point where your guess is as good as mine. On the other hand, the influence
that a leader has can be as altruistic as is possible. Gandhi Ji used his connections in the UK to get India’s struggle into foreign press. His efforts to use his influence for positive change were so effective that he has inspired the likes of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King as well as every single Indian for aeons to come. Next, look at different institutions and the power they wield. Companies have always had the issue of harassment of subordinates via personal position of power. Quid pro quo sexual harassment is prevalent in too many large corporations to count. Individuals from India who have exhibited this reprehensible behaviour include the once rising star of software and management. Phaneesh Murthy and Gopal Kanda, an ex-minister of Haryana who ironically served on its Human Rights Commission. Armies are another example of this. Their strict and perhaps restrictive hierarchy and internal settling of dispute policy is a potential hotbed for skewed power dynamic. The US Forest Service
has been in the news recently for assault allegations being ignored and perpetrating a toxic work environment. Another example is hospitals in India where women face all too many obstacles in climbing the administrative ladder. My grandmother who managed a government hospital in Secunderabad while working as an obstetrician experienced this first hand. However, once she broke the glass ceiling with the support of progressive people in power, she made sure to implement all the changes needed for the upliftment of women as well as that of the victims of the then occurring caste-based discrimination in medical care.