A Reflection on Power

Yeah, on the politicians being allowed to inside trade. That law was signed on April 2 (as I recall) of this year but does not go into effect until September 1st, next month. Got to have time to unwind all those insider deals, I guess. Most of the big ones are not in securities nowadays anyway, too easy to track, but in real estate and arranged as payoffs. That is how the Senate Majority leader Harry Reid made his bundle. Or the Obamas getting their Kenwood District house with the "help" of Tony Rezko and his wife. The Clinton magic $100,000 cattle future payoff. People do not "seek" power unless they want power. Power is the ability to have your own way at the margin. More power means more having your own way. Most people want money. Most power seekers want money. This has been going on forever. Even George Washington went after real estate in the Ohio and Shenandoah river valleys (many hundreds if not thousands of square miles) during and after the secession war with the British Empire using his "political connections" extensively. Power is getting what you want. People want money. "Good Government" is an oxymoron. People who want power but not personal wealth are much worse than the personal wealth seeking kind. Antoine Saint-Just, Hitler, Stalin, Richard Speck, Charley Manson, the Batman shooter. There are millions and millions of them. A person trying to get rich is harmless compared to those who are willing, no, eager, to kill to further their ends. Killing at will is the real stuff of power.