Rodriguez 1

Estheffani Rodriguez

Senior English

Figueroa pd. 3

March 10th 2019

Corruption of Power

Throughout our history, corruption of power has become a universal issue that has

grabbed the attention of millions. Often times diplomatic leaders, religious leaders, or any other

person that holds authority over others with a political status have a private agenda. They tend to

misuse their power given to them by the people to further their own personal goals. Having

power can be used to benefit people for the greater good; however, in Macbeth, he abused his

power. When he was prophesized he’d become king, he did everything in his power to

accomplish his goal no matter the consequences. Macbeth’s universal theme of corruption of

power in also seen in today’s society throughout politics, media, and in human trafficking.

There are many types of power. For example, socialized power is power used to benefit

others and use for personal gain. Socialized power is extremely prevalent within politics as we

see many leaders in their elected offices further their private agenda simply due to their immense

power. For instance, Hilter propaganda and his personal ambition cause tension between various

racial group and economic classes. In Macbeth, it states, “He became their leader with almost

unlimited powers. From the first he set out to create a mass movement, whose mystique and

power would be sufficient to bind its members in loyalty” (Lukas 5). In this case, Hilter became

their leader with unlimited power and abused his power over others. He used it to corrupt the

Jews with concentration camps. Another example of corruption of power we see within politics
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is through Trump. President Trump is a prime revelavent example of abusing and corrupting

power. “Trump is placing his own personal interest before the country, rendering this an abuse of

that authority, under the guise of phorcys cherry picked transparency” (Sargent 12). He abused

his power that's given to him trying to build an unnecessary barrier or other various actions

which is not benefitting anybody but rather putting him in a peaceful state of mind. Overall,

corruption is the abuse of public office for political gain. Seeing an example from history and

present day highlights the issue making it extremely pressing in our time.

Corruption of power is also seen throughout the media. An example of that would be the

use of different social media platforms, music, or anything advertised by celebrities. These uses

of media have a tremendous impact of individuals worldwide within all age ranges and physical

description. This makes evident the influence the media has on corruption of power. It states

“Economists have sought to measure the influence media can have on an individual beliefs and

behavior as well as electoral politics and institutional accountability” (Fleisher 22). Based on

media, he’s influenced the beliefs and behaviors of others as well. This goes to show that what

people see on social media or through the news really affects their mentality on certain things. It

states, “Corruption is not just a legal issue, it’s an issue of society and culture. Corrupt practices

typically arise when citizens are unaware of their rights and feel powerless to fight against abuse

of power.” (Summir 2012) Corruption of power happens continuously and in everything in our

society. Corruption is most affecting to teens and young adults because it’s something they see

every day in music, social media, the news, through the government and in many other places.
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Human trafficking and power of corruption go hand in hand. Human traffickers abuse

their power and use it over others to abuse and take advantage of younger girls especially.

“They’d throw me out of the car. They’d burnt my hair, they’ve broken bits of my face. They’ve

tried to douse me in petrol and set me on fire.” (Rodgers, 5) These victims are treated terribly

simply because somebody thinks they can have a greater power and control over them. All of the

control that they have over themselves is taken away. They are forced to work for nothing except

for the convince of somebody else. It states, “Provide cheap labor to the factories (child

assembly line workers) and service industries (maids), it also reduces the cost of production

lowering prices for consumers.” (Herrera, 3) All of this goes to show that human traffickers

abuse their power and use it to corrupt the lives of others. Everything is done to benefit

themselves.

Throughout our history, corruption of power has become a universal issue that has

grabbed the attention of millions. Often times diplomatic leaders, religious leaders, or any other

person that holds authority over others with a political status have a private agenda. Power

corrupts society’s demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of them

having power increases. Corruption of power happens in our everyday life and its affecting a

significant amount of people.

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Works cited
“Why Power Corrupts.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1 Oct. 2012,

www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-power-corrupts-37165345/.

“Social Media - Part 3: Monitoring and Reporting Corruption.” Forum One, 9 Mar. 2019,

forumone.com/ideas/social-media-part-3-monitoring-and-reporting-corruption/.

Sargent, Greg. “Trump's Latest Abuse of Power Is Likely to Blow up in His Face.” The

Washington Post, WP Company, 6 Apr. 2019,

www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/09/18/trumpslatest-abuse-

of-power-is-likely-to-blow-up-in-his-face/.

Knapp, Wilfrid F., et al. “Adolf Hitler.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia

Britannica, Inc., 26 Apr. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler.