How is Power Obtained?
Adolf Hitler once said “The art of leadership... consists in consolidating the attention of the people against a single adversary and taking care that nothing will split up that attention.” If you look deeper into this quote, you’ll find that the basis for “taking care that nothing will split up that attention” is fear. Hitler implanted fear in the minds of people all over europe. He used fear and punishment as a tactic to gain power. People who want power and control over you can use what they know about you, against you. Someone who uses fear to gain power might do or say things that they purposely know will scare you or make you intimidated. Fear is defined as to be afraid of someone or something that is likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening. Individuals who rely on fear want you to know they are in charge and will go to extreme lengths to keep that sense of power. Take Niccolo Machiavelli as an example, Niccolo Machiavelli was a fifteenth century writer who is most famous for his book called "The Prince" in which he wrote about politics and power. He came from a very political family and was a politician himself, he understood the inner workings of politics and how to gain power. Machiavelli discussed power and the best ways for a single bodied ruler to consolidate, solidify, and maintain his power via actions that promote fear and encourage selfishness. People like Machiavelli who enjoy using fear will take any action, regardless of the possible moral or societal consequences, as long as the end result causes the leader to maintain power. As you can see, fear is not the most reasonable or respectful way to obtain power, but that doesn’t stop people from using it. The ways fear can be used to obtain power vary. An example of fear that Hitler used was the fear of death. No one wanted to die during WWll, so they would do whatever the Nazi’s told them to do in order to survive. Hitler did a very good job at making sure fear was always in the back of people’s minds, whether it be his own soldiers, the Jews, or German citizens, there was always a level of fear that crossed people’s minds when they heard the name Adolf Hitler. Fear can be used on a smaller scale as well, someone could use fear to gain power over a friend by telling that friend if they don't do what they want them to, they will expose their biggest secret. These are two very different examples but both are ways you can use fear to obtain power. Overall, there are many ways to obtain power, but we believe that using fear is the most effective way.