Defining Power
by Joshua • Sep 4th, 2009 at 1:07 pm • 2 comments
How would you define power, in a political sense? Like my last few posts, this one is inspired by Professor Larry Klugman. On the first day of his political science course he defined Power with the following formula:
Power = Access + Process
Comment by Tom Trumpinski on 4 September 2009 at 2:41 pm:
I think that formula was valid for the now-finished Industrial Age, just as during the Agricultural Age, which came prior to that one, Power = Control of Water Supply (which is why no “water-control” empire ever fell from within.)
The new formula for the Twenty-First Century is this:
Power = Control of Information, for if you control Information, you can steer *everything* else in the direction you want it to go.
Tom
Comment by Tim on 10 September 2009 at 10:50 pm:
I really find it hard to believe that anyone could “control information” in this day and age. Maybe I’m completely off base, but it seems far too complex in such a tremendously advanced and decentralized society.