POWER AND PEOPLE

The quest for power drives our actions.  People have constantly sought to gain control over others and over their living environment.  This trait, in fact, is a survival mechanism that is present in all living things.  Unless you are able to vanquish those who are trying to destroy or devour you, you will not have the chance to pass on your genes to subsequent generations.  If you cannot put meat on the table and make use of edible items that you gather or cultivate, your species does not survive.

Since biblical times, groups of people united by blood ties, religion, or place of birth have attempted to gain power over other groups that possessed land and other forms of wealth or which represented a threat.  Throughout the centuries, war has been a more usual state of affairs than peace.  To this day, virtually no generation has been spared the grief caused by losing family or friends in efforts to prevail over tribes or nations that represented a perceived threat to a specific way of life.

Initially, power over land, accumulated wealth, or humans was achieved by wiping out or enslaving one’s foes.  Such conflicts were generally on a fairly local level.  With the advent of organized and disciplined armies, such as those which were developed by the Greeks and Romans, battlefields began extending to the limits of the civilizations that were then present, so that more and more territory and ever more citizens became involved. 

In Europe, populations were decimated by prolonged wars among contending nations and to ward off invasions that came from the east.  In the 20th century, two global conflicts occurred that caused vast numbers of deaths and amounts of destruction.  These were waged not only over differing political views, but as a result of efforts to secure various types of natural resources. 

Currently, the likelihood of a world-wide state of war involving nuclear weapons has diminished, but threats to the lives and well being of the citizens of many countries are still present.  While past efforts to attain power over others focused on efforts to gain territory or industrial supremacy, the primary sources of tension today involve competing social systems.  Even though the conflict between Muslims and non-Muslins is ostensibly about different ways of viewing and worshiping the one God, in reality it is a cultural war. A modern, free-flowing form of civilization is pitted against an ancient, rigidified social structure that resists modification out of a fear of having to deal with the collapse of its severe control mechanisms.