What is Power?

Power is a word that can, and does, mean many different things to many different people. A quick Google search of the definition of power came with the result that power is “the possession of controlling influence.” That definition branches off into many different subtopics, for lack of a better term, as you can have “controlling influence” in different aspects of life. Over all, from what we’ve learned in class, power can exist through political ways; by holding government and enforcing rules to a group of people, power can exist through economic ways; by having the most, or better known as being the “richest”, and power can exist through personal ways; by standing up for your own ideas at home or in the work place.
In my opinion, power is most noticeable in politics. Politics is basically just an easy way for people to gain and hold power. Two different examples of power in systems of government are dictatorships and democracies. In dictatorships, one man holds power. One man decides what happens to a big group of people and how the people of a country’s lives will function. Dictators often suppress peoples’ rights of speech, rights of freedom, and rights to religion, as is strongly evident in North Korea. With dictatorships, that one man, the dictator, holds all the decisions of a country in the palm of his hand, because he holds the strongest “possession of controlling influence”. In democracies, a country has a right to vote on who they want to lead. The citizens of a country usually choose their leader based on the ideas and opportunity that the candidates are willing to give. In democracies, the people have more power at the start as they have the power to decide who “wins”. After the winner or next leader is selected, he/she usually holds the power along with those who stand by the ideas of the leader. In government systems, it’s easy to see who holds power and who doesn’t.
Power also exists in the form of economical power. Through history, it’s always been the rich having more power. During slave times in North America, it was always the whites who had power over the blacks, and mostly because the whites had more money. During the Industrial Revolution, those who had money were the ones who were getting more money as ideas began to form into reality, such as Andrew Carnegie. Now, during our day and age, it’s still obvious that those who have more money are the ones who have more opportunity to move forward and thrive over those who don’t have much money. Mr. Coyle always used to say, “As the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.” This is extremely true in places like India, where the rich are the ones who get the good jobs and better opportunity to get more money, whereas those who live on the streets are usually bound to a life of under paying jobs. Through this, those who have more money simply have better opportunity, causing them to rise above those who don’t have much money. Economic power is also very easy to see, whereas personal power isn’t.
To me, having personal power is the ability to stand up for what you believe in, and being able to get others to listen to your ideas. Personal power is also being able to make the right decisions for you and yourself. Often in families, it’s the parents who hold power, as they are the ones who are making the decisions for the family as a whole, trying to determine what’s the best for everyone. In the workplace, it’s the boss who holds power as they are the ones who are trying to do what’s best for the company as a whole. At an individual level, you are the one who holds power. You decide what best for yourself, and you do what you know is right for yourself. Personal power can exist in many different forms.
It is very apparent that power exists in many different ways, through politics, through economy and through personal ways. Power is everywhere and many people hold it in different ways. Power is often the basis for many people’s lives. I believe power is one of the most fundamental things in the world today.