The Discovery of Power
What does it mean to have power? How does it come? What should be done with it? How is it maintained?
There’s an idea most often associated with a quote from the Spider-Man comic book series that reads:
“With great power comes great responsibility”
Variants of this saying have been espoused throughout history with recent examples coming from Teddy Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is clear to me that there is some serious wisdom packed into the idea.
The common interpretation stems from the Spider-Man version shown above, which has had a tremendous influence on popular culture. This version neatly fits Spider-Man’s narrative, as he already has gained great power and is now faced with wielding it. Thus, this wording implies that responsibility is merely a product of power.
However, I don’t believe many of us experience the sudden ascendance to a powerful position akin to Peter Parker when he was bitten by the radioactive spider. Although, exceptions exist in cases like those who win the lottery and are suddenly confronted with a large amount of wealth and potential influence. When confronted with such a situation, one certainly must assume great responsibility in the wake of that gained power, which is of extreme difficulty if one has not been historically responsible. In these scenarios, the wisdom that Spider-Man gains is comparable and the phrasing presented is appropriate.
In most other cases, power is not simply stumbled upon. It seems to me that a growth of influence is synonymous with ascendance to power in this sense, as to gain power is to enhance one’s sphere of influence and vice versa. In turn, how does one grow more powerful or influential if he doesn’t win the lottery or exist in the plot of a comic?
I think one breeds influence by first taking responsibility over some domain(s). Thus, I think the voluntary acceptance of responsibility is the precursor to the discovery of power. The greater the responsibility carried, the greater the subsequent potential for power becomes.
By coming to power one realizes his or her potential for influence over the domains that responsibility has been taken. At this stage, one has to confront the question of how to wield this power, which is where the Hero realizes the importance of the responsibility that has been assumed. This is the point that Spider-Man reached as well.
This creates a positive feedback loop between power and responsibility, with the reality of increasing influence being the moral component driving the Hero towards a just balance. However, there is still the Inner Victim (adversary component) operating inside as well, which is potentially just as potent, who would like to use any power for tyrannical purposes.
In my previous post, I discussed in more depth my beliefs about the victim traits within all of us. My conclusion leads to my belief that taking responsibility transforms one from the victim to the hero in his or her narrative.
The Inner Victim is concerned solely with rights, while the Hero takes responsibility for those very rights. It is apparent to me that one’s rights must necessarily be the responsibility of another. How many rights (for both yourself and others) are you willing to take responsibility for? By my understanding, this question is synonymous with “how much power can you handle?”.
At this stage, the Hero has discovered some power by expanding his or her sphere of influence, and is faced with the crucial decision of accepting or abdicating the growing responsibility over all within this sphere. By abdicating, one will instead assume the role of the Villain, which is simply the Inner Victim who has gained power over a certain realm. The more one develops the resentful Inner Victim, the greater the temptation will be for aggression and revenge when finally achieving some power. This type of tyrannical power is not sustainable, with evidence coming from its many manifestations throughout myths and history.
In turn, I propose an alternative version of the popular saying to account for the entire symbiotic relationship between power and responsibility:
With great responsibility, comes great power and even more responsibility.
Perhaps it doesn’t ring as well but, at the very least, it brings clarity to the interpretation I’ve espoused in this post. My goal was to demonstrate my belief that, in most cases, power is discovered through responsibility. To increase influence, one has to accept responsibility. In taking responsibility, power is gained at the cost of more responsibility. Thus, responsibility is both a precursor to and product of the discovery of power.
What is understood as “great” power can only be continually fostered through the voluntary acceptance of “great” responsibility. This acceptance of responsibility is the mechanism that grows one’s sphere of influence and it is necessarily harmed if one rejects it. Choosing to neglect the responsibility both prevents the ascension to power and promotes its degradation when it is temporarily gained.
