Power

This stems from a conversation i was having with the old man about a minute ago on power.
You should know, prior to readage of the hitherto post, he is a very conservative pro-capital punishment antiquated thinker, and I'm slightly more liberal, or more the the point, deeper thinking in my approach to the state and power. (At this point, I'm not endorsing or disparaging either view).

George Orwel's novel `1984` commented heavily on the state and the extreme socialist approach to governing society, moreover the absolute way of governing society (ie, the mannor whereby the state is all powerful, and the demographic are unquestioningly controlled by the state). At one point in the novel, a rebel of the party (Winston) is captured for his crimes against the state and during prolonged torture and punishment, his `mentor` (O' Brian) in the `re-eduation` explains the paradigms and philosophy behind the thinking of the society.

In reference to `power`, O'Brian explains it like this (not in these words obv)
Oceana [the state] has absolute power over all people. You may think it doens't but it does. Even the thoughts of the peoples, from the outer party to the proletariat are able to be monitored. We listen to the mumblings in your sleep, we watch your reactions on your face, we hear your every word, NOTHING you think or do can be escaped by the view of the party. for this reason, we have control. But when a person such as you, Winston, chooses to cast themselves adrift, we can heal you, we can take action. A weaker society kills off its adversaries. Oceana is not weak. We do not kill those who do not conform - rest assured, you WILL be killed, whether a year of ten years, we will kill you, but not before changing you to our way of thinking. You will confrom and BELIEVE it before you die..... therefore, we have ultimate power.

earlier in the novel, when Winston and his assosiate in crime (Julia) are discussing this, Julia says

They can't get inside you, in your mind, that's the part they can't reach.

but after interrogation by O'Brian, Julia concludes that the party does have control over that part of you.

therefore, I was thinking, is that not ultimate power.

the old man was talking as if he was using `power` and `control` synonymously, whereas I seemed to be using the word `power` synonymously with `influence`, but I think power is more than influence. (will come back to that point), firstly, I should like to adress the issue of power and control.

my Old man is a ships captain, therefore has `power` over an employee. eg, he can tell a man what to do, and has contorl over whether or not the man is fired... but is that power? or is it just the job/position to tell someone what to do? I don't think it's power. After all, he has the `power` to tell someone these things, but surely that power is only given to him by someone higher, therefore, power becomes transitional, and, after all - `transitional power` seems very much like an oxymoron to me!

But about power being the same as influence, again, I would disagree (though it seems a closer analysys than the above). Power can't be influence, as people choose their influences by means of role models, democracy, choosing one's job etc. None of these have true power, as they're given to the subject by the subject themselves.

therefore, is true power not the absolute over those whom it claims to power? Like Oceana and O'Brian - in that instance, the state not only controls the actions of the individual, not only their very thoughts, but, in all cases, the emotions of those over whom it has power (something I'm sure every extreme socialist would like!!). to me, this is power, as it's unrivaled and unparalleled.

On a side note, I think it was in Schindler's List (awful film IMO) where there was a conversation which went like:
guy 1 - I have power, I can kill a man
guy 2 - das ist nicht power!
guy 1 - Was ist das power?
guy 2 - a naughty man went to an emporer on the charge of murder, the guy expected to be hanged, and with every cause. On every circumstance before, the emporer had hanged murders. But to the surprise of the court and the bloke, the emporer didn't hang him, but let him go... that, my friend, is power.
guy 1 - that's well gay that is - i think you're drunk I do, me

I'm not sure that is power either.... that's just the control over a man's life (and that's life in the most clinical sense of the word), not over the man himself.

So this has me thinking, surely, the church is the most powerful institution in the world as it is the only institution to control not only the actions, but the thoughts and emotions over those it has power, rather than just telling people what to do or how to behave. I think perhaps this might be riveled by the army, as they force patriotism, and quash bad behaviour, but that's not from an implantable inner conviction, like the church places.

If anyone has any other thoughts on what power is or what it entails, then please comment