Looks like Trump has been shot

[Ninurta]

Only people seeking power for themselves will seek power at all. One has to be a narcissist to think they know what is better for other folks than those other folks know themselves.

Not necessarily. Stalin was an exception, he sought power not for himself, but for his revolution, he was once called "man of the idea."

According to Stalin's interpreter Berezhkov, Stalin "amazed everyone with his ostensible modesty and total lack of desire to impress. Unlike Hitler, Stalin thought that if his limitless power over millions of his subjects was evident, there was no need to advertise it."

I think a key there is your use of the phrase " 'his' revolution". Stalin sought power in order to oversee the prosecution and administration of "his" revolution, to make sure it was handled according to his own vision and understanding of it. Therefore, the revolution under Stalin was merely an extension of his own ego... so I would argue that indeed he DID seek power for himself ultimately.

But I may have an inkling of what you are trying to get across. I've been put in positions of "power" a few times, and I've declined to accept such a position as many times more. Generally, although not always, when I accepted it was because I didn't like the job I was already doing, and just wanted to get out of it and into something else. Some times, I only took it because I could see that everyone else around me needed someone to stand in the gap between them and the even higher-ups who was a little better at absorbing the heat and not allowing it to pass downward. Some times, I accepted it only because no one else wanted it, but someone had to do it.

However, I've never accepted any such position because I felt a need to hammer on any "underlings" or "bend them to my will". In all cases where I did accept, I did everything in my power to make life easier and better for the folks under me. I always saw my position in the pecking order as a way to serve them, rather than as a way to force them to serve me. That has always paid off dividends in units of loyalty .I've gotten the best out of people because of that, and whenever I received recognition for work THEY did (let's say a "bonus" or something like that) I always made sure it filtered down to them ultimately - I'd use the proceeds to give them a party or something like that - rather than keeping it for myself. After all, if THEY did the work, I saw no reason that all the benefits of their work should accrue to myself, who didn't really do the work, y'know?

So, while I understand that not everyone who GETS power is in it for themselves, I still feel that people who SEEK it are ultimately going there mostly for their own benefit.

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