Power deludes

One of the wisest sayings about power is that of Kenneth Boulding here:

All organizational structures tend to produce false images in the decision-maker, and that the larger and more authoritarian the organization, the better the chance that its top decision-makers will be operating in purely imaginary worlds.

I was reminded of this by Jack Straw's claim that:

The core democratic values of freedom, fairness, tolerance and plurality...define what it means to be British.

As Tim, John and Robbie all point out, this is a remarkable statement from a minister in a government that has created 3000 new criminal offences.
So how could Straw be so stupid as to make it?  Because, as Boulding said, power deludes as well as corrupts. People in power eventually lose - if indeed they ever had it - their sense of self-awareness and self-absurdity. We see this every time a boss spouts managerialist jibber with a straight face, and indeed, pretty much every time any person in authority expects to be taken seriously.
Straw's just conforming to type.

Comments

[Mark Wadsworth]

Anybody who attempts to define what it means to be British has obviously no idea what it means to be British.

[dearieme]

Our biggest asset is our people.

[mat]

Well, not all of them.

[Kevin Carson]

Straw reminds me of that Minister of Information in Brazil who blamed terrorism on "bad sportsmanship."

[Roger Thornhill]

Straw is not totaly wrong about Britishness, but he either deludes himself that he hand is fellow Sociofascists and self-loathing journeymen are systematically attempting to tear it all down. That, or he is a bare-faced liar.

[Matt Munro]

I disagree with Straw, every right thinking person knows that Cricket, warm beer and roast beef with yorkshire pudding define Britishness.

[Mark Wadsworth]

Matt, no, it's LOSING at cricket that defines us. And naff school uniforms.

[dearieme]

No, no, Matt; you eat the Yorkshire pudding with gravy before you eat the beef. Really, some people.