“With great power comes great responsibility”
as Uncle Ben said to Peter Parker (“Spiderman”)
This has become a commonly used quote I often see people use to enlighten us of our sense of accountability when we wield the power we have been given, and a responsibility to use it for the benefit of others. In this light it is an altruistic message that is for the benefit of all mankind. The idea for the quote is rooted in the parable of the Sword of Damocles and a medieval principle of power and moral responsibility.
It could also be used in a more sinister way as it is literally from a super hero movie, and how power interplays with the evil villains. If you can imagine yourself to be a villain (or may be just be yourself), it may be a more manipulative effort to subdue others who may be more powerful, so you have the opportunity to covet the super power and spider sense you so desire.
Whether we are superheroes, medieval knights, play with swords, or none of the above, I like to believe we all have a great moral responsibility in life. Why are our responsibilities in any way dictated by the power (or sword) we wield? Should our responsibilities to uphold a modicum of humanity and ethics be any the greater or lesser whether we possess greater power (drills) than our next door neighbour … or install the same fear in others that the beloved but vicious cat that prowls the neighbourhood has.
We can all hopefully agree, the impact of having power in someone else’s hands, makes us feel more anxious and vulnerable to the whims of our leaders. Especially as we place so much trust in them in nearly every aspect of our life, but we have also tended to build a greater distrust of our leaders in recent times, even if deserved. But individual responsibilities should never be up for negotiation or debate, nor should they be any less than our leaders, no matter our station in life. As popularly expressed, power corrupts absolutely, so to entwine power with our responsibility is to tie an anchor to our foot, and cast ourselves into the seas. Our responsibility is always great, and something we should all feel blessed to have, as much as we really don’t want that responsibility most of the time. But it would be foolish to not understand, and to judge each other, when we be so scared in all facets of our life, including the relationships we have.And, how weighed down we can be by our own insecurities, that the least travelled road is a difficult one to take. That road is not well worn, or made, so it will hurt more.
If you find a milli-second to re-think whether the unmade road to honour our moral responsibility, our humanity, the ones who truly love us, or are conflicted about what to do with that beloved but vicious cat … you are always welcome to come over to my place, have a chat, a laugh and enjoy some home made ‘pasta e fagioli’. It is always laid out with a smorgasbord of bad jokes.
While writing this, I thought about the track from New Order’s second album from 1983, “Power Corruption and Lies”, which seemed an appropriate segue. It includes one of my favourites songs “Age of Consent” which is a completely irrelevant title.
New Order, “Age of Consent”
Age Of Consent
