this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2023
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Do you believe that humans intrinsically lust for power as an essentialist point?
EDIT: for a dropped 'm'
I think all humans lust for power over others, to make them believe as they do, or worship as they do or some other way conform to their own way of behaving and thinking. Maybe it's a tribal thing, left over from when we were on the Savannah in "cave man" days, and needed to feel in control of our group (or something). I do believe some desire for power is an intrinsic part of human existence.
See, I think that's where we disagree-- because I don't see it as an intrinsic codified that far back. If anything, I think that's just part and parcel of being socialized under the dictatorship of capital; where we're literally raised to prioritize competition against our peers, and more importantly, winning that competition. I only see 'power' as the means to the end of accomplishing the objectives we were socialized to chase from birth.
tl;dr change the society, change the socialization, eradicate the common, but not all-encompassing desire for power over another.
You have a more practical and perhaps more economic based view of the situation, which I don't disagree with at all. It's just that I'm a much more nihilistic person in my beliefs, I personally (and this is ONLY an opinion) believe that all humans are intrinsically horrible and evil to the core. I've never seen any iota of goodness in anyone. So I cannot simply see it as a matter of how we're nurtured by our society but as a fundamental part of the disease of human psychosis.