Does Power Give You Happiness ?

Every individual and group is after power: power for oneself, for the party, or the ideology. The party and the ideology are an extension of oneself. There is the power of efficiency with its ruthlessness, and the power of the machine in the hands of a few; the exploitation of the stupid by the clever, the power of money, the power of name and word, and the power of mind over matter.

We all want some kind of power, whether over ourselves or over others. This urge to power brings a kind of happiness, a gratification that is not too transient.

The power of renunciation is as the power of wealth. It is the craving for gratification, for happiness, that drives us to seek power. And how easily we are satisfied! The ease of achieving some form of satisfaction blinds us. All gratification is blinding. Why do we seek this power?

‘What do you mean by using another?’ We use each other for mutual gratification. The present structure of society, which is our relationship with each other, is based on need and usage. The woman needs the man, and the man the woman. Our present relationship is based on need and use. As long as the social structure is based on mutual need and use, it is bound to be violent and disruptive; as long as I use another for my personal gratification, or for the fulfilment of an ideology with which I am identified, there can only be fear and opposition. Relationship is then a process of self-isolation and disintegration. This is all obvious in the life of the individual and in world affairs.