The Issue of Power and Privilege

Power is the "ability or right to control things; a person or organization that has a lot of control and influence over other people and organizations" (Merriam-Webster). Power can be seen everywhere. In my life specifically, power can be seen at home, at school, and at the workplace. Anyone who is in a position of authority has power; for example, a parent, teacher, or employer. Power is a very interesting concept that I like to pay attention to. How people come to power, such as in a household, school, job, and on a broader scale, in a state or country, is also interesting.

 Power is not something I obsess over or try to achieve in my daily life; however, like most people, power can be a driving force in making certain decisions, For example, I work and go to college in order to make money and hold financial power, I find powerful influences mostly in people rather than things. For example, the people I look up to such as my parents, certain world leaders, celebrities, and famous athletes are powerful influences.

After reading the chapter, I realized there were some forms of power I neglected. For example, the emotional power a work of art of literature can have over you. It holds influence and can make you see things differently. The reading also provided names for the different types of power and made it easier to distinguish between them and see their effectiveness. For example, I didn't know that power over a country or state was called domination power. The type of power I found most remarkable, and had overlooked in my preliminary evaluation of power, is transformative power. This power is extraordinary and shows the power of coming together to make change. I found the Chilean example in the reading quite moving. Although people tend to inflict domination power, more would be accomplished in the world, and there would be more respect for one another, if we used transformative power instead.