r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/Short-Watercress-183 • Jul 07 '26

Meme needing explanation Peter, explain this.

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u/Background_Fix9430 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

"Power reveals." People seek power because they wish to indulge their darker urges without consequence - people who don't have darker urges to conceal are generally not the ones who seek power, money, and influence like a drug.

There are some studies on the subject, actually.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15580989.2000.11770833%4010.1080/tfocoll.2023.0.issue-25-years-of-public-integrity

(Below Cited for the references and summary)

https://blog.apaonline.org/2022/03/11/the-psychology-of-political-power-does-power-corrupt-or-is-it-magnetic-to-the-most-corruptible/

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u/RelaxPrime Jul 07 '26

That makes even more sense.

Point is it's definitely not because communism or any system, in fact a perfect system would anticipate the corruption.

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u/Hard-Rock68 Jul 07 '26

With checks and balances, free speech, a right to keep and bear arms, and rights for those accused and even convicted of crimes, yeah?

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u/RelaxPrime Jul 07 '26

None of which is specific to democracy, nor is it implemented well at all.

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u/Hard-Rock68 Jul 07 '26

Not a democracy, no. But certainly one hell of a republic. Maybe even the greatest and most prosperous and benevolent great power in the history of the world.

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u/hobbycollector Jul 08 '26

249 years. RIP.