Power

There’s the obvious power that exists in physical strength, large size, machinery and weapons. This is the type of power that can be used over others, to subjugate them and to command their obedience. It’s the type that, if absolute, it will corrupt absolutely. Then there’s the invisible power of beliefs, principles, norms or prejudices, which shape how we act or refrain from acting. Emotions, too, take a hold of our behaviour. Anger, hatred, love and fear above all make us do things that we rarely like to admit. And then there’s the power of the imagination, something so boundless and personal that no one can touch it. It exists within all of us and can be exercised at any moment and in any setting. And doing it best are children, whose youth, creativity, curiosity and dreams witness the world, with all of its virtues and horrors, from scratch, and with confusion about why things are the way they are…