Good and Evil

Here is a link to a 1971 study researching the psychological effects of having authoritative power over others and having that power placed on you. The experiment was conducted at Yale by simulating a very realistic prison experience putting physiologically normal males of college age in the roles of both prisoners and prison guards for a period of 14 days.

The experiment was ended prematurely, after only 6 days, when it became apparent that the experiment had gone out of control as some of the guards had become habitual sadists and several of the prisoners had psychologically broken down.

Here is another link leading to a TED video on the subject of how ordinary people unintentionally succumb to abusing power that they are given over others. The video is of the Psychologist, Dr. Zimbardo, who conducted the 1971 prison simulation experiment.

The experiment and Dr. Zimbardo's claim that even good people succumb to the corrupting force of power is reminiscent of Glaucon's tale of the Ring of Gyges in Plato's Republic. For those who have not yet come across that particular gem of wisdom, it concerns a magic ring that is discovered in a mysterious crevice that has opened up in the earth and ends up in the hands of a an ordinary Shepard boy. The ring allows the Shepard boy to become invisible and he uses it to take anything and everything he wants while being completely unaccountable for his actions and he eventually seduces the queen of the land and kills her husband and takes his place as King. The Moral of the story is basically that the corruption the comes with power is irresistible, that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Ring of Gyges Story was obviously borrowed by Tolkien and turned into the One Ring which also could corrupt even the most noble of benefactors or the most ordinary of Hobbits.

This makes a strong case against the overwhelming violent power of the state, but it also brings up the question of how we are to resist against that power. If we accept that power corrupts even good people then we are well armed to fight the state, but it also cuts our own legs from underneath us if we attempt to advocate the election of Liberty minded individuals. How are we to trust a Ron or Rand Paul, or even our selves, with culling the state's power when that power is so irresistibly corrupting?