October 23rd, 2009 Power Struggles MatterAs some Bahamians now realize, there must be something quite sweet, very compelling and possibly a special something that is potentially addictive. As some Bahamians now realize, there must be something quite sweet, very compelling and possibly a special something that is potentially addictive.
That thing has to do with power and by derivation, the struggle for power. As we have been taught and as some others intuitively understand, politics is all about the struggle for power and the realization of interests.
There are occasions – as in all those matters that involve outright bloody warfare – the struggle for power is left wide open for all the world to see.
As the old adage sagely advises, to the victor go the spoils.
So goes some of the language used to describe politics and the struggle for power in the Bahamas and around the world.
We are reminded that leaders routinely confer with their generals; that they have foot-soldiers and that they have their own time-tested means as to how they could get information concerning the innermost plans of their enemies.
When references are made to trenches, the word is used merely as evidence of both longevity in the struggle and the ubiquity of warfare as unique metaphor for what happens when people strive to maintain their toe-hold as leaders.
Here too is evidence of that human penchant to fight and struggle among themselves for control of turf, territory or other scarce goods and services.
When it comes to politics in society, people support this or that candidate because of what their favorite provides them. This might mean access to privilege, a position or a long-awaited opportunity to serve in a high position.
In other words, power struggles matter.
Today, with the intellectually immortal Hans Morgenthau as teacher and guide, we remind the Bahamian people of something that they routinely intuit. That thing that they know somehow or the other is that thing that is known as power.
As Morgenthau asserts and affirms as axiomatic, “Power may comprise anything that establishes and maintains the control of man over man. Thus power covers all social relationships which serve that end, from physical violence to the most subtle psychological ties by which one mind controls another.”
The same Morgenthau sagely suggests that, “Power covers the domination of man by man, both when it is disciplined by moral ends and controlled by constitutional safeguards, as in Western democracies, and when it is that untamed and barbaric force which finds its laws in nothing but its own strength and its sole justification in its aggrandizement…”
Today we concern ourselves with a special species of power struggle in our land – this one having to do with the struggles in the Progressive Liberal Party that should – all things being equal- determine who will go up against the ruling Free National Movement whenever general elections are called.
As the struggle for position and power intensifies in the bosom of the Progressive Liberal Party, politically engaged citizens wait and watch to see whether this or that force prevails.
Some wait to see whether the incumbent leader and his coterie will survive the challenges they face – coming as they do from the senior ranks [with Dr. Bernard J. Nottage in the vanguard] and from the junior levels, with Attorney Paul Moss making his own [and quite courageous] debut.
And then, there are others like a seasoned Brave Davis and a courageous Jerome Fitzgerald making his own special effort.
This handful is joined by others in the fray.
Here the name of Obie Wilchcombe comes to mind.
We are quite certain that there are tens of thousands of true-believer supporters of both the ruling Free National Movement and their equally fervent counterparts in the Opposition Progressive Liberal Party who are watching and waiting to see how the proverbial cookie crumbles.
For better or worse, the struggle for power is ubiquitous; that is to say that human beings – as social animals – are constantly engaged in some contest or the other for some benefit, good or the other scarce thing.
On occasion – as in sports – where the struggle is on for acclaim, means for the attainment of the end in question is often quite benign.
There have been reports of instance after instance, where cheating and chicanery run things.
By similar reasoning, contests do take place – as they are currently going down in the ranks of the Progressive Liberal Party – where the struggle is all about determining who will get to run things not only in that organization, but possibly in the nation at large.
Yet gain, the current contest for power and position in the Progressive Liberal Party could well determine the nature of the contest for the real power that comes with winning the next general elections.
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