An Introductory Essay
In 1492
Anonymous
In fourteen hundred ninety-two,
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
He had three ships and left from Spain
He sailed through sunshine, wind, and rain.
He sailed by night; he sailed by day;
He used the stars to find his way.
A compass also helped him know
How to find the way to go.
Ninety sailors were on board;
Some men worked while others snored.
Then the workers went to sleep;
And others watched the ocean deep.
Day after day they looked for land.
They dreamed of trees and rocks and sand.
October 12 their dream came true.
You never saw a happier crew!
Indians! Indians! Columbus cried.
His heart was filled with joyful pride.
But India the land was not.
It was the Bahamas and it was hot!
The Arakawa natives were very nice.
They gave the sailors food and spice.
Columbus sailed on to find some gold,
To bring back home as he’d been told.
He made the trip again and again
Trading gold to bring to Spain.
The first American? No not quite.
But he was brave and he was bright.
Americans still recite the first two lines of this poem they learned in elementary school. But a critical review of the poem reveals that the most important points of the Columbus story are missing. Neither the words nor the poem’s tone hint of the tremendous power shift set in motion by that famous voyage of nearly 4,000 miles.
By connecting the old and new worlds, Christopher Columbus accomplished something no other person in history has ever done. But for what purpose did he sail? Historians say it was for God, gold, and glory. Columbus was not just “brave” and “bright” as the poem says; he was enterprising and self-serving. Some might even call him arrogant. He did not set out to discover America, but rather to find new, faster trade routes with the Orient that would bring him wealth and fame. The Spanish crown did not sponsor Columbus’ voyage out of kindness or curiosity; rather, Queen Isabella was inspired by her desire to spread Christianity, and King Ferdinand hoped to outdo Portugal and his other European neighbors by discovering new sources of power and wealth. Economic forces motivated even the sailors under Columbus’ command, who hoped to earn a lifetime’s salary for spotting land.
Phi Theta Kappa’s 2006-08 Honors Study Topic, Gold, Gods, and Glory: The Global Dynamics of Power, takes its name from historical references to Columbus’ bygone era. But the three G’s are just as relevant to understanding the dynamics of power today as in Columbus’ day. Wealth or resources (gold), religion or spirituality (gods), and honor or pride (glory) continue to be sources through which power is attained, and forces that motivate individuals and nations to seek power.
Power has been defined in many ways. German sociologist Max Weber put forth a definition that is generally accepted by sociologists. He defined power as the ability to impose one’s will on others, whether through coercion or the other party’s volition. But power, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, can also mean simply “the ability to act or produce an effect.” Some thinkers – Nietzsche, Adler, Lukes, Toffler, and Foucault – have left us with their ideas about power. In The Will To Power, German Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche argued that all living things are driven even more than by the need to live, by the need to wield and use power, to dominate others, and to make them weaker. Similarly, Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler argued that man’s fear of his own weakness or inferiority drives him to pursue power. In 1974, English sociologist Steven Lukes published a seminal work, Power: A Radical View, in which he outlined the dimensions of power. He argued that all social interaction involves power, and that power shapes preferences through values, norms, and ideologies. More recently, American writer and futurist Alvin Toffler, posited his ideas on power in Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century. Toffler argues that power not only shifts from one group to another, but the nature of power shifts as well. He writes that violence was once the dominant form of power; violence gave way to wealth, and wealth is now taking a back seat to knowledge as the dominant form of power. Many others, whom we will look at over the next two years, have defined and interpreted power. French philosopher Michel Foucault summed up the importance of power in his History of Sexuality. Foucalt writes, “Power is everywhere not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere.” He goes on to say that “power is not an institution, and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategical situation in a particular society.”
Certainly America’s presence in Iraq is a “complex strategical situation.” As President of the United States of America, George W. Bush is the most powerful man in the world. He has used the power of his position to declare war on terrorism and to promote democracy and freedom to all people. While many agree that the idea is a good one, some disagree that war is the appropriate course of action. Disagreement has led to speculation about what really motivates President Bush. Is the war on terror a shrouded attempt to gain control over Middle Eastern oil reserves so that the America people can continue to operate big cars, big houses, and big industries at low cost? Or is it a product of Bush’s Christian desire to help the people of the world who lack the power and resources to help themselves? Or is it the result of a personal goal to succeed as a peacemaker in the Middle East where others before him have failed? In truth we do not always know what motivates people, nations, or institutions to pursue power or to use power as they do. But often the answer lies in the relationship of power to gold, gods, or glory.
Over the next two years, we will explore the dynamics of power on personal, interpersonal, societal, and global levels. We will seek to understand how gold, gods, and glory are rationales for acquiring power, address how gold, gods, and glory provide access to power, explore the effects of power, recognize the power of symbols, and look at how power is sustained or lost. In addition, we will examine the dynamics of power from an historical perspective, so that we may learn lessons to apply to our understanding of the dynamics of power in our own lives, our nation, and the world today. There is no denying that power is shifting and changing the current global landscape.
Whether you tune in to National Public Radio, read the Wall Street Journal, or watch Fox News, the reporters tell the same stories (albeit from different perspectives). Currently in the Middle East, Sunni and Shiite Muslims vie for political power in post-Hussein Iraq. Shiite-led Iran pressures the fledgling Iraqi democracy. Israelis and Palestinians continue to struggle for land and security. In Asia, the Japanese fight to resurrect their flailing financial markets, and the North Koreans flex their muscle with threats of nuclear weapons. Hundreds of thousands of people in Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand and other Asian countries fight to restore some semblance of life as it was before the devastating Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of December 2004. In Africa, despite tremendous natural resources, few prosper while massive numbers of African people continue to die, powerless against poverty, AIDS, and other diseases. In all of these situations, gold, gods, and glory are forces driving the players to seek, show, or sustain power. And ultimately, the dynamics of power will determine the future.
In the United States, the power struggles are just as real and varied. The Democratic Party regroups after their relatively dismal showing in the 2004 elections. Republicans rally support for a GOP that is suffering from low approval ratings and lagging support. Anti-war advocates urge the President to bring home our men and women serving overseas, while war supporters proudly bear yellow ribbons in support of our troops. Pro-lifers continue to seek ways to appeal Roe v. Wade in the courts, while pro-choice advocates seek fewer restrictions on abortion and other options. As gas prices soar, major airlines struggle to stay afloat (or aflight) financially, while large oil companies post seemingly unexplainable earnings. The inhabitants of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, southern Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida struggle to rebuild in the wake of the harshest hurricane season on record. Parents and schools go to court over the teaching of intelligent design and evolution in the science classroom. The nation watches as the face of the U.S. Supreme Court changes. And since the government has been charged with domestic spying, Americans look up from reality television to ask, “How close is Big Brother?”
Just as power shifts and changes the national and global landscapes, the forces of power are alive in our personal lives as well. From 1982 to 1983, San Francisco General Hospital’s Coronary Care Unit conducted a study to assess the effects of intercessory prayer. From this study of 393 heart patients, the researchers concluded that despite having no knowledge of the fact that they were being prayed for, the patients receiving prayer fared better than the patients in the control group. A similar study conducted between 1999 and 2002 at Duke University Medical Center produced different results, indicating that prayer had no medicinal effect on the 748 heart patients in that study. Regardless of what science shows to be true, many people will continue to believe in the power of prayer and draw strength from a relationship with a higher power. Others draw strength from their environment, and still others from a belief in their own human spirit. Whatever the source, personal power enables people to control their own actions, overcome adversities, and conquer seemingly impossible feats.
Interpersonal power interactions in the workplace, political arena, and families come in many shapes and sizes as well. For example, parents exert power over their children by making choices for them, providing sustenance for them, and even nurturing them. Likewise, children seek power by pestering, showing affection, or sometimes even withdrawing affection. Within the family, power shifts between husbands and wives (or other parental figures). In television’s “Leave It to Beaver,” June was content to stay in the Cleaver home raising her boys and caring for the house, while Ward worked and provided for the family financially. Seemingly, Ward had all the power, but one could argue that June’s power was just disguised as influence. Fast-forward fifty years and this picture of domestic life is nearly unrecognizable. Often, the home operates more like a partnership, in which both parties contribute in the same ways and thus maintain a balance of power. Of course the dynamics of power differ greatly from one culture to the next, and in many societies, the show of power in the home is very one-sided.
Individuals are often not content to exert or exchange power only in relationships with other individuals. Throughout history, individuals have proven themselves powerful enough to change ideas, institutions, and societies. In the thirteenth century, Genghis Khan united the Mongol tribes and gave them a common identity. In the fifteenth century, Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas and connected the old and new European worlds. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony led grassroots efforts to give power to women as voters in the United States. In the late 1930s and 1940s Adolf Hitler promoted his ideas about the Master Race and led the Third Reich to slaughter six million members of the Jewish race under the guise of German world-domination. But, in 1948 David Ben Gurion led the Jewish people to take back power and found the nation state of Israel. Also in the twentieth century, Nelson Mandela worked tirelessly to overturn the institution of apartheid in South Africa and ultimately succeeded. Likewise, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spent his life fighting passively against social injustice, and he paid the price of his life to bring power to American people of African descent. Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin ushered in a new era of reform that allowed democracy to find a home in the Soviet Union.
Whether on personal, interpersonal, or global levels, the struggle for and wielding of power have created a dynamic global environment and determined the course of history. Just as in Columbus’ day, the three G’s – gold, gods, and glory – remain important sources of power and motivating forces for change. Many questions can be asked to explore Gold, Gods, and Glory: The Global Dynamics of Power. Who has power? How was their power attained? How and why has power shifted over time? How is power used and misused? Why is power sought? How has the use and misuse of power changed the world? The questions are abundant, and many are provided in this guide. These questions will determine our course as we look at power from an historical perspective, examining powerful people and civilizations of the past. We will ask these questions to learn about the power at play in our personal lives, in our relationships with others, and in our societies. And hopefully, we will apply what we learn about ourselves and what we learn from history toward a better understanding of the current dynamics of power in our global environment.