Who is John-Dahlberg Acton?

There’s a story about Nikita Khrushchev that doesn’t involve a shoe, but makes a powerful point. Khrushchev was giving a speech denouncing Stalin’s war crimes even though he was complicit in many of them. He was interrupted by a heckler who said that Khrushchev had opportunities to prevent these atrocities and shouted. “Why didn’t you stop him?” 

Khrushchev, who couldn’t see the heckler, yelled and demanded to know who said that. No one moved. No hand went up. There was just a very tense silence. Khrushchev finally said in a quiet voice, “Now you know why I didn’t stop him.” A lot of us can relate to this and recall instances where we didn’t stop the racist joke, or the co-worker making a sexist comment, and probably others. Maybe we were cowards. Or maybe we did stand up or applaud the one who stood. 

But power is complicated. It was 1877 and John-Dahlberg Acton said, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Khrushchev attached himself to Stalin, and when the opportunity came, he seized power. It’s easy to see that scenario play out today with enablers and sycophants who are yearning for power, or just want to be power adjacent, and are waiting for their chance. 

It takes courage to stand up, when silence is easier, it’s easy to rationalize how power corrupts, and it is easy to see how, as Henry Kissinger said, “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.”