>>12
This guy thinks rich people have power. Newsflash for you buddy. Nobody has power, we live in a democratic and anti-authoritarian society in which people don't associate with or support dictatorships. Just look at our last three presidents, all huge pussies that I wouldn't even need to apologize to if I spilt a drink on them.
Everyone you think has power has a line that they can't cross. For some that line is circumscribed tightly, for others it has a bit more room. But the bottom line is that if your source of influence is visible and your a public figure, then your power extends only as far as other people let you extend it, and for most people, the answer to that is not very far.
Now your probably thinking, Vladimir Putin, now there's a leader that isn't a pussy and has real power to do as he pleases. Now you're on the right track, he's certainly more powerful than plebs with mere "wealth"(or as I like to call it, an unusually high value for the mostly arbitrary numbers that we assign each other for mostly arbitrary reasons that have little to do with anything of deep significance despite our self-delusions to the contrary). But again you'd be wrong. While Putin is no pussy, and while I would not apologize for spilling my drink, I would demurely acknowledge my error out of politeness. Because Putins power, relies on his image, and the fear, respect and obedience that image evokes. He must spend endless amounts of time, energy and caution with regards to his image. Constantly manicuring, manipulating, and propagandizing to preserve his status as top dog and chief doer of stuff of the russian country. Putin has some power, but only at the cost of maintaining on ongoing theatrical production everyday of his life. One major slip up and the illusion is ruined, his power comes crashing down and his supporters turn against him. Maybe one day putin decides to fuck some dude and gets video taped. Old world homophobia would make his machine of power disappear in an instant, the illusion shattered and his reputation ruined. Most public figures of similar problems of needing to maintain a reputable image.
And so my dear friend, what is real power? Perhaps it's only a fantasy. Some have written stories, about how real power is with the one who influences the influencers. The one who controls the levers behind the scenes to make things happen. But it's a shell game. You check each shell one by one looking for where the real power is, but it's nowhere to be found. The reality is we all influence each other, and we're all powerful and helpless in our own ways.