Diagnosing the Sickness of Power

Their idea is that they're indispensable. Most of us think the same thing. There's a general belief that without those in power, we'd have no one to protect us or look after our needs.

But past citizens had a wiser view. They knew that those in power could be dangerous if not controlled.

Today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head, Diagnosing the Sickness of Power.

In a love sonnet, Shakespeare praised those that have power to hurt and yet will do none. And oh, wouldn't it be fine to encounter that some day in a political figure. But more and more it seems they fail us again and again, and, like the football team down 28 - 0 at the half needs to re-consider its game plan, so, too, do we need to look with fresh eyes at power and the powerful.Thankfully, there's a vast body of literature and analysis of all things human that accomplishes that much-needed perspective. And that's the remarkable science of Analytical Trilogy developed by a noteworthy Brazilian scientist named Norberto Keppe.

When I first came across Keppe's exploration of the pathology of power in his book, Liberation of the People, I was in my early '40s and locked into my career and feathering my nest, as most of us think of doing. But something in that book spoke deep to my dormant idealism and re-kindled the spark that lies inside all of us.

I think it was that part right at the beginning where Keppe states, "We want to summon all of you who have a practical nature, all who possess idealism and dynamism, all who believe in goodness, truth and beauty, to unite so that a new world can be built, a new society: the true Kingdom of Man on earth."

Wow. Gives me a rush even today. So 9 years ago, I packed all my stuff into a storage locker in Toronto and schlepped it on down here to Brazil to discover for myself the cause of all the depth charges going off inside me every time I read Keppe's work.

I'd like to share a little bit of that with you today, and if it lights your fire, invite you to get in contact with me so we can explore what we can do together to bring this idealism to more people, and through resonance with these like-minded people, contribute towards this Kingdom of Man on earth.

Dr. Claudia Bernhardt Pacheco is uniquely qualified to talk about the pathology of power. She lived through considerable attacks from the powerful in North America and Europe, not to mention Brazil, who didn't like what she and Keppe were publishing and teaching. She's here with me today.

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