KidSpirit

Appreciate Power, Defy It, or Build It?

Strength and InfluenceGlobal Beat

From interactions with friends, family, and sometimes strangers, I’ve noticed that there are two very popular, almost equally divided views of strength and influence in my direct community.

There are those who critique people with influence, wealth, and power, with the same sentiment Lex Luthor used to critique Superman: “If he is all powerful, he cannot be all good. And if he’s all good, he cannot be all powerful.” Most people in this group think those with strength do not deserve it, and that they’ve had to do unethical things to get where they are. It leads to people’s developing grudges against the ostensibly powerful because “power,” as it were, is thought to be corruptible. There is a special cynicism that is characteristic of this group; they primarily revolt against the concentration of power in the hands of a few and demand that distribution of wealth be rethought in terms of policy.

The other group is on the almost opposite side, with immense appreciation for those with influence, wealth and power, because they took what they had, and increased it by orders of magnitude. The people in this group are grateful for the impact the powerful have and usually have great respect for those with influence and strength. Their main goal usually is to find a way in which they can benefit from this power. Essentially, this group would be concerned with “getting by” through building on the resources of the powerful. Not too ambitious, hard-working, oddly settled: this group seems to be content as long as they are on good terms with the powerful.

The most uncommon view is the one I admire the most: the people who have appreciation for the strong, powerful and wealthy, but also have the ambition and grind to have strength and influence someday.

Samarth Jajoo is a 12th grader at Riverside School in Ahmedabad, India. He makes things on the internet when he's free—or watches excessive amounts of TV. Learn more at sam.jajoo.fun.

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Art by Jaden Flach, Brooklyn

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Art by Jaden Flach, Brooklyn