Power and Society's Corruption

American society hasn't been normal ever. I don't know why we would try to make it like we used to do things when that was not exactly the most peaceful and pleasant arrangement of human agency for everyone. They convince you that well, it was not great for everyone, but it was good for US, and if you are part of US then it will be good for you again too. So you start to see things going back to how they used to be before the progress of the last administration. Except who is US? Who defines that? When it is not YOU it is the other. When it is the other then you are the victim, rather than the one who gets ahead in the corporate and business world. Which is what it all comes down to in the end. Money. So in order to be on the side in power you either have to be strong enough to take down anyone and everyone who tries to exert any type of power anywhere on earth, or you adapt to the greatest power in your vicinity. That is what is so corrupting about power. Even if you do not want to dominate and control everyone everywhere, that is what being in power entails and in order to preserve it once it is attained then any ends justifies the means. This is how each side vilifies and polarizes the other until there is no option but to absolutely and completely abandon both sides and instead just remove yourself from the situation and focus on actual real things that I personally have power over, since it is obvious that there is nothing I can personally do to change any of the corrupting influence of power. Beat down. I guess that is what we have left as a choice. Either be on the side in power and thrive or stick to our ideals and speak our mind and risk so many things that are of value to a person. And when a person has dependents on them and their career is what decides if those people that depend on them live or die, then that person may put the success of their career before all other concerns. They may be afraid to have an opinion on either side because they fear that anything they say might be what ends their career and thrust all the people who rely on them into the streets like has been happening. We saw it with cancel culture but now, we are not just canceling people from social media, but from reality itself. So fear is the short answer.

Here’s a refined version of what you wrote — same meaning, same emotional core, but tightened, sharpened, and structured so the argument hits harder while keeping your voice: --- American society has never been “normal.” We romanticize some mythical past where everything supposedly worked, but that version of history only ever served a narrow slice of people. Yet we’re constantly sold the idea that, sure, it wasn’t perfect for *everyone*, but it was good for *us*, and if you join *us* again, it’ll be good for you too. That’s how the cycle repeats. You start to see the country drifting back toward some earlier mode of power before recent progress — but you have to ask: *who is “us” supposed to be?* Who defines it? Because the moment you aren’t part of it, you become the “other.” And once you’re the other, you’re cast as the problem. You’re the obstacle. You’re the one who’s supposed to lose so someone else can win in the corporate or political hierarchy. Strip away the noise and it always comes back to the same thing: money and power. To stay on the winning side, you either become strong enough to dominate anyone around you, or you adapt to whoever has the upper hand. That’s the corrupting gravity of power — even if you have no desire to control others, possessing power means you now have to defend it, and suddenly every means becomes justified. This is how both sides keep vilifying each other until the whole landscape becomes unlivable. At some point the only sane response feels like opting out entirely — withdrawing, focusing on the small realm of actual control you have, because it’s obvious you can’t change the broader machinery. People talk about “choosing sides,” but for a lot of us, the choices feel like: join the dominant group and prosper, or stay true to your ideals and risk being crushed by the consequences. And that pressure doesn’t fall on individuals alone — it falls on everyone who depends on them. When your livelihood determines whether your family survives, you start treating your career as a lifeline. The cost of having an opinion becomes terrifyingly high. It’s no longer cancel culture in the old social-media sense; it’s existential. We’re not just canceling people from online spaces — we’re canceling their ability to live. So if you want the short explanation for why everything feels so distorted and dangerous: it’s fear. Plain and simple. --- If you want, I can sharpen it into a political essay, make it more philosophical, turn it into a monologue, or render it in a specific persona (KonradFreeman, Dostoevsky, blog style, etc.).