Why power is fleeting and ephemeral?
Two weeks ago, Forbes magazine came up with its 8th listing of the World's Most Powerful Persons in 2016. This good idea of coming up with a list actually started in 2009 and 2016 is the eighth list. In 2009 there were 67 on the list, 68 in 2010, 70 in 2011, 71 in 2012 and now 73 in 2016. The number is premised on their rule that there should be one slot for every 100 million people. So, on a world population of 7.3 billion people, there will be 73 most powerful persons in the world for 2016.
The criteria for making it into the list is basically the amount of resources; financial, military, human, intellectual, physical and other resources that the person can influence and the impact of these on the world conditions and events, regardless whether it is a good or bad influence or impact. I am sure Forbes has an algorithm/formula that it uses to come up with the list and ranking which includes the number of times the person makes the headlines and the front pages. As the List has gained credibility, as they have been quite reasonable and acceptable, there has not been much objection to the listing. There is also the "caveat" that as Forbes developed the listing mechanics and criteria, they are entitled to whatever subjectivity involved.
The top ten on the list in the order ranked are: Putin, Trump, Merkel, Xi Jinping, Pope Francis, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Yellen, Bill Gates, Larry Page of Google, India Prime Minister Modi, and Mark Zuckerberg. Note that I did not put a position or title to the more popular names, but only on those not so familiar names. In the past eight years the presidents/prime ministers of the U.S., Russia and China have dominated the top two spots, although the names changes depending on who is occupying the position. At least a hundred names are considered for this list every year, and in the 2016 list 11 new names were added and nine were deleted. Philippine President Duterte is in number 70 among the new names that are included on the 2016 list.
The annual revision of this list is proof of the fleeting and ephemeral nature of power. This is because the source of these powers is also impermanent. The primary source of their power is really the position that they are occupying, be it political, military or economic. Once they are out of that position their influence wanes and diminishes as in the case of ex-presidents, ex-premiers, ex-generals or ex-CEO of companies. While financial resources may not diminish abruptly, their popularity and influence of their money will not be the same as when they were holding the top positions.
While it can be argued that historically there have been kings, despots and other potentates that have held on to power for 40 to 60 years, it has also been successfully argued that in the later years of their rule, it was no longer the kings/despots who were wielding power but their ministers, their family members and their courtiers who were wielding power as the kings were too old, too weak, and too tired to rule. It takes too much energy and effort to exercise and hold on to power all the time and not much fun. In these 21st century, with the advancement of information and communication technologies where and when the world's population are more informed, holding on to power is even more difficult since it is not only the local population that have to be influenced but the world population as well.
A strongman rule or a dictatorship is also no longer an assurance of staying in power. It might delay as in the case of Marcos, Khaddafi, Sadam Hussein or Haile Selassie but it will end sooner or later. And sometimes violently as what happened to some of these long-ruling heads of state. Then, there is the human lifespan factor. A person's productive years is between 40 to 50 years and this is distributed in a normal "poisson" distribution, which means his most productive years are from ages 25 to 75 with the peak years from 35 to 65. Given this and the other factors needed to stay in power, the power window is really quite small and will encroach in the more pleasant times of your life. Watching some of the politicians maneuver to stay in power, it would seem that they must think that they will live forever.
There is a power that has outlasted other temporal powers, and this is the power of an "IDEA." The technological power persons that have surged about in this 21st century will surely have longer term effects than the persons that developed them. Computers and communication technologies will outlive their originators and developers. Religions of all kinds are powerful ideas that have traversed generations and lifetimes. Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and all major religions are major powers that came from an idea whose time has come. Their leaders may come and go but the power of that religion may stay unless their religious leaders bungle it and their faithful dissipates. It seems that all religions that required virgin sacrifices eventually disappeared for lack of virgins. Still, since all religions believe in the temporal nature of all things in this world, all power will eventually end, the power of kingdoms, the power of men and the power of ideas. The power of men is more fleeting and ephemeral than the others.
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