CORRUPTIBLE

There are 4 main premises of this book. First, power makes people worse— power corrupts. Second, it's not that power corrupts, but rather that worse people are drawn to power-power attracts the corruptible. Third, the problem doesn’t lie with the power holders or power seekers, it's that we are attracted to bad leaders for bad reasons, and so we tend to give them power. And fourth, focusing on the individuals in power is a mistake because it all depends on the system. Bad systems spit out bad leaders. Create the right context and power can purify instead of corrupting.

He explains Dark Triad that has three components: Machiavellinism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Machiavellianism refers to a personality trait marked by scheming,interpersonal manipulation, and moral indifference to others. Narcissism, named after Narcissus from Greek mythology (who is destroyed because he falls utterly in love with himself) refers to personality traits that often manifest as arrogance, self-absorption, grandiosity, and a need for recognition from others. And psychopathy—the darkest trait of the dark triad-often shows up as someone who lacks the ability to feel empathy and is impulsive, reckless,manipulative, and aggressive. Each of the three traits exists on a continuum. For most of us, though, these traits come in tiny, harmless doses. When the three occur at extreme levels in the same person, well, then you've got a problem and so do the people around you.

According to Kevin Dutton, a research psychologist at Oxford and the author of The Wisdom of Psychopaths, the ten professions with the most psychopaths are CEOs, lawyers, TV/radio personalities, salespeople, surgeons, journalists, police officers, members of the clergy, chefs, and civil servants. Another study found that those with dark triad traits are strongly drawn to positions that give them an opportunity for dominant leadership-leadership that involves controlling others and particularly so in finance, sales, and law. However, Dutton doesn't mention politicians on his list (probably because there's a reasonably small sample size).

Corruptible people are drawn to power. They're often better at getting it. We, as humans, are drawn to following the wrong leaders for irrational reasons linked to our Stone Age brains. Bad systems make everything worse.

Yet, our intuitions about power can be flawed and mistaken. Four phenomena-dirty hands, learning, opportunity, and scrutiny—make it seem that power makes people worse than they actually are. We sometimes confuse the effects of power with intrinsic aspects of holding it.

His last recommendation is more than reasonable :

It's clear: you don't have to constantly watch people. In fact, constantly watching people— especially those who aren't in power— is a pretty good recipe for a dystopia. But to inch toward a utopia instead, we should make people in authority think that they could be watched at any time. That provides a middle ground that allows us to avoid constant invasions of privacy while still making those in charge think twice before they abuse their power.

“I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way against holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

Lord Acton, in a letter to Bishop Creighton (1887)