Power

Power - What is it? How do you get it? What do you do with it?


The American Heritage on line Dictionary accessed through Columbia Encyclopedia, sixth edition, gives multiple definitions of power starting with the basic word then goes to applications pertaining to physics, mathematics, statistics, biblical, and more. The first definition listed by American Heritage is "the ability or capacity to perform or act effectively" and the fourth definition listed is "the ability or official capacity to exercise control; authority."

There is a big difference in the ability to perform or act and the ability to exercise control. Many have the ability to perform or act in a variety of ways, however few have the ability or capacity to exercise control.


A person is employed based on their ability or capacity to perform - hence, they have the power to be employed. Once employed however, they are under the power of the employer who has the ability or official capacity to exercise control. So, once you use your power to become employed, you relinquish your power to your employer in order to maintain your job.


Most people are content to allow another to exercise control or authority over their actions. The biggest example of exercising control or authority is through the laws established by our federal government. The Constitution was developed to equally represent all the people and it established the framework of our government and made laws to protect the people. The U S Constitution establishes the ability or official capacity to exercise power or authority over the inhabitants of the United States.


Individual states have developed their own Constitution governing the people of that state. The state Constitutions can not override or supersede the laws enacted by the federal government. The state Constitution gives the states and its officials the power or authority at the state level.


So being born in a state of the United States, a person already has multiple sources of power or authority over them. The state level is followed by the county, then the municipal level. Each family normally has their own rules and regulations, hence giving the head of the household the capacity to exercise power or authority. There are so many different living arrangements in this day and time that many households do not have rules and regulations leaving a void in the initial level of living with an organized framework; living without a power structure.



A person is born with everyone having power and authority over them. Remember American Heritage's first definition of power - "the ability of capacity to perform or act effectively". Then a person learns to have power over themselves. Cleanliness - brush your teeth, comb your hair, take a bath, is one of the first learned power over self. It progresses to the type of clothes worn, hairstyle or color, how one talks, where a person goes, what a person eats and on and on.


The acceptance of the power or authority is dependent on the manner it is administered. It starts in the home; if children do not follow the rules, they a disciplined. When they start to school, if rules are not followed, they are disciplined. When they join the workforce, if rules are not followed, they are disciplined. When they break the law, they are disciplined. If this authority or the respect for authority is not taught when a child and discipline is not administered in some shape or form, the progression is interrupted.

The American people can have much more input in the making of laws and therefore the granting of authority to the government whether local, state or federal than any other government. Yet the American people reflect so much discontent and apathy toward their government and its operations.

Have we finally disrupted the progression to such an extent that we no longer have "the ability or capability to act or perform effectively" or "the ability or official capacity to exercise control; authority" over ourselves, leaving all under the control and authority of local, state, and federal officials?