An Analysis Of Power In The Political Order
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Authors
Puckett, Reese
Date of Issue
1967-04-01
Type
thesis
Language
Subject Keywords
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Abstract
The problem of power Is perhaps the lost significant problem existing in the world community today. Power is everywhere, in all aspects of life, personal and social. Every institution utilizes and In turn Is shaped by power, whether It is familial, educational, recreational, economic, religious or political. Power differs in these various institutions and groups merely In form not in its underlying reality. Power demands study due to the excesses of our age. Today we are physically one world due to Improved methods of communication and transportation. Prior to our age It was possible for man to bask in self-imposed isolation and concentrate on domestic affairs but today we are a single world community and power must of necessity he seen in a rider context. We are also pulled together by the interconnectedness of the world economy. No nation Is entirely self-sufficient economically. We have to depend on others for raw materials and fuels If our economy is going o continue to expand. Trade Is essential to keep our economy from going stagnant. Probably he most significant problem today is our brink of destruction reality. We have enough power to destroy the world. Two super powers, the U.3. and the Soviet Union, are squared off at each other, each possessing he means to annihilate the other. In addition o these super powers a number of other nations are constantly growing in strength in the international order and this increases the possibility of inadvertence and irrationality which could cause the destruction of the civilization of which our nation is a part. A decline in moral standards is evident in our society today. Everywhere people of all ages are being more exposed to more sources of personal degeneration through our increasingly complex news media and communications to the public as a whole. It is imperative that our moral values and standards be raised to the same level as our modern technology to compensate for the gap between the is and the ought, which must be pulled closer together. Another factor that makes the reality of power a necessary topic to be thoroughly examined is the fact of ideological fanatacism. In a totalitarian state the individual is completely subsumed into the structure of the govemment. It is necessary that we also acquire a world view based on the dignity and sacredness of the individual to combat this idolatrous concept of society - by this I am trying to say that we must know what we want, adopt positive programs instead of a reaction policy, conquer ignorance not societies, and exercise power with responsibility so that we have a true policy based on the principle that power plus principle equals policy. Something lending to the crisis in our world situation is the Western Colonial retreat, today many new nations are emerging in the world as is evident in the increased membership of the United Nations.