Delphic Maxim 109: Fear ruling
I’ve set myself the challenge of responding to each of the Delphic Maxims for 15 minutes a day.
109. Fear ruling
Years ago during a particularly manic episode of the ABC’s Q&A, Barry Humphries said something about power that stuck with me. He was asked to reflect on a particular politician — I can’t remember which, it may have been many — and he observed that this person craved power, and that he (Humphries) didn’t like people who craved power.
Power can be sought for good or for bad, of course, so there’s nothing essentially wrong with seeking it. Foucault understood it as a series of force relations between individuals and institutions, so in effect it isn’t something we can ‘possess’ either. But the reason I come back to the concept of power in a maxim that talks about ruling is that I see similar lessons to be learned in each.
Someone who seeks power to help others — a kind of humble use of power — is entitled to it, and likely to use it well. Someone who seeks power without fear, who doesn’t fear ruling, is someone who is likely not entitled to rule at all.
Perhaps a Game of Thrones analogy might help?
Throughout the course of the show, Daenerys Targaryen always had one of the most keenly understood and fleshed out conceptions of power. She wanted it to liberate people (notwithstanding the unearned changes her character goes through in the final few episodes). She was conscious of the way that she exploited and used power. But she didn’t fear ruling, and in the end this is what undid her.
At the other end of the spectrum is Jon Snow. The show actually established (badly) these two as a kind of complementary narrative device: she who seeks power to do good, he who seeks to do good without power. Jon Snow fears ruling, which many people interpret as his being most qualified to be a ruler. Maybe, but if he really were qualified to be a ruler, he would at least seek power, and he never does this: it is handed to him time and again, often over his objections: he is even restored to life against his will!
Game of Thrones only carries us so far, we really need to think about what the contemporary lesson from all this is. For a start, I think it’s okay to seek power, but fear ruling. And to commit properly to that fear, in order to prevent a leader from getting carried away into the corrupting influence of power. Being afraid isn’t the same as not doing — strength and courage are virtues, and they often involve going up against something that we fear.
For those who get the chance to lead, or rule, then the exercise of power should be for good. It shouldn’t be timid or weak, it should strive to be respectful and have noble purpose. That’s a fine balance between power for good, and fear of too much power.
