Forwarded from Master Jiraiya
What is power? Is power a measure of where your troop are stationed? Is power about where your currency circulates? Is power the measure of geographical area?
To recognize real elites, you need to define what elites are known for: Power.
Just as you need to define power to define politics itself. And this definition of power has to be precise enough to not to be confused or equated with wealth or knowledge or something like that. Meaning of power is by default social in nature here. And society is never made of one man alone. What I'm trying to say here is, power can only be compared between two separate independent entities.
Imagine a world like that of Robinson crusoe, a single man on an island. Take it further and think of a single man in the entire universe. Is he powerful ?
Who knows? Who cares ? How can anybody tell ? He lives alone!
Power has no social context here to be evaluated upon.
However, in a hypothetical world of two people: now we have ability to compare.
One can be exerting his will over the other, ie one might have power over the other, the concept of power has come into being here.
Wealth on the other hand can be free from social context, by it's ability of being pure material in nature.
You might be alone in an island. But being alone with all the modern amenities like housing, irrigation and machinery would be very different than being alone in pure virgin nature where you have to survive from scratch. This is why you can have concept of wealth without concept of power, through material conditions.
(Part-7)
To recognize real elites, you need to define what elites are known for: Power.
Just as you need to define power to define politics itself. And this definition of power has to be precise enough to not to be confused or equated with wealth or knowledge or something like that. Meaning of power is by default social in nature here. And society is never made of one man alone. What I'm trying to say here is, power can only be compared between two separate independent entities.
Imagine a world like that of Robinson crusoe, a single man on an island. Take it further and think of a single man in the entire universe. Is he powerful ?
Who knows? Who cares ? How can anybody tell ? He lives alone!
Power has no social context here to be evaluated upon.
However, in a hypothetical world of two people: now we have ability to compare.
One can be exerting his will over the other, ie one might have power over the other, the concept of power has come into being here.
Wealth on the other hand can be free from social context, by it's ability of being pure material in nature.
You might be alone in an island. But being alone with all the modern amenities like housing, irrigation and machinery would be very different than being alone in pure virgin nature where you have to survive from scratch. This is why you can have concept of wealth without concept of power, through material conditions.
(Part-7)
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