Political Power
“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun”- Mao Zedong
While Zedong’s Assertion is often true, political power can be coerced out of people, or physically taken from them by use of physical force, it often is not, and ideally would not, be true. For the first several cycles of human history, this may have been the only source of political power. While not literally from the barrel of a gun, power once grew from the cutting edge of a sword, or from the striking force of a blunt object. Tribes, and later early governments, went to war with one another to gain control of natural recourse, and land. In early Muslim dynasties, sons physically fought wars over who would succeed their father, and only those who could best the others physically earned the seat of political power in contest. The many revolutions of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries provide another direct example of the truth of this statement. Many communist powers, including Zedong’s gained their political power directly through military uprising, and in some cases kept their populations in check with the fear of violence. But I think just as often, political power grows out of the furls of a silver tongue. It is gained through the careful selection and placement of words, and through the purposeful manipulation of human minds. This may only apply to more modern political power, as modern as post Second World War, but I think as time continues this will further replace pure brute force as the means of acquiring the hearts, minds, and resources of ruled peoples. In modern America, this is the only means of acquiring political power (beyond money). Those who have the ability to sway, and convince the American people of their superiority are those who can do it with carefully worded phrases and speeches, which we even spent class time analyzing. Even Zedong’s uprising, though an act of violence, could not have taken place if he had not first convinced and coerced people to agree with his Marxist philosophies, and Marx could not have convinced anyone without being able to first write it in a convincing way. Maybe I only think words will replace guns because this is what I wish to happen, or think is most fair. The ability to craft a sentence and win an argument is a measure of wit, craft, and intelligence, which are exactly the attributes I want in a politician. The ability to physically overthrow someone can be gained by any nobody who spends time in a gym, and who has access to weapons. But while I see the power of words replacing the power of the gun in time, Mao Zedong’s statement was once, and still is quite true. I cannot tell the people of Myanmar that political power only goes to the best spoken, even if that is what I wish.
