“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (Lord Acton)
The second half of Acton’s comment is so striking that it’s easy to overlook the first part: any power at all tends to corrupt.
Why?
Because the attraction of power is getting other people to do things they wouldn’t otherwise do, or making things happen that wouldn’t otherwise happen. And once you have tasted power, over a single person (maybe a child) or over millions, there is little satisfaction in getting people to do things that they might well have chosen to do themselves.
One trivial example from my own life. A city council committee had to choose between two different set routes to a school. (They needed a set route so that cars wouldn’t block one another.) One route was simpler and popular; the other was more complicated and less popular. The committee chose the second.
Why?
Because to choose the first was not to exercise power. It’s what parents with cars would have chosen for themselves. Where is the power in going along with that?
Power, even the most trivial, is dangerous. At every level, it tends to attract exploitation for its own sake—and we need to keep that possible exploitation constantly in mind.