評(píng)論
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The need for power is particularly difficult to satisfy because in many cultures the mores of the culture condemn those who openly strive for it. Even politicians try to appear humble, emphasizing how much they wish to serve and how little they want to tell us what to do.
對(duì)于權(quán)力的渴望尤其難以得到滿足，因?yàn)樵谠S多文化背景下，道德標(biāo)準(zhǔn)會(huì)譴責(zé)那些公開追逐權(quán)力的人。甚至政客們也會(huì)竭力裝出謙卑的樣子，強(qiáng)調(diào)他們是多么希望服務(wù)于人民，多么不想對(duì)人民發(fā)號(hào)施令。
But regardless of cultural prejudices, power itself is neither good nor bad. In fact, if it were not for the need for power, our whole economy would crumble because almost all that is bought and sold, except for bare necessities, is for the sake of power.
但是如果拋開文化偏見，我們就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)權(quán)力本身并無(wú)好壞之分。事實(shí)上，如果沒有對(duì)權(quán)力的需求，我們的整個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)就會(huì)癱瘓，因?yàn)槌撕?jiǎn)單的生活必需品之外，我們所購(gòu)買和銷售的其他物品都是為權(quán)力而存在的。
When someone uses his power to help downtrodden people satisfy any of their needs, especially to get some power, this use of power is humane. But history records few examples of people like Martin Luther King, Jr., who used what power he had for the benefit of the powerless. Instead, history is full of tyrants who used their power to hurt people, and the reason that so many of us see power as bad is that so many people have been its victims. But even tyrants tend to talk about power as if it is bad. They preach the virtues of humility because the more people they can persuade to be humble, the more easily they can both preserve and add to the power that they have.
當(dāng)有人使用權(quán)力幫助受難的人滿足他們的需求時(shí)，特別是幫他們獲得一些權(quán)力的時(shí)候，這種權(quán)力的使用就是人道的。馬丁·路德·金運(yùn)用自己手中的權(quán)力幫助那些無(wú)權(quán)力的人們獲得利益，但是歷史上像馬丁·路德·金這樣的例子并不多見。與此相反，歷史上到處都是運(yùn)用手中的權(quán)力去傷害他人的獨(dú)裁者。我們中的很多人之所以把權(quán)力看成是壞事就是因?yàn)橛性S多人都成為了權(quán)力的犧牲品。但即使是獨(dú)裁者們也常常將權(quán)力說(shuō)成是壞的。他們常常宣揚(yáng)謙卑的美德，因?yàn)樗麄冊(cè)绞悄軌蛘f(shuō)服更多的人謙卑，就越容易維護(hù)并擴(kuò)大自己的權(quán)力。
While it is easy to understand that people who strive for power may become dominant and have a better chance to survive, most of us have difficulty accepting that this need is written in our genes.
那些追逐權(quán)力的人可能成為主宰，會(huì)有更好的機(jī)會(huì)生存，這很容易理解，但我們大多數(shù)人還是很難接受這一事實(shí)——對(duì)權(quán)力的需求就存在于我們的基因當(dāng)中。
