The Justification of Injustice: Abuse of Power Throughout History
By: Arya Y Darmawan
Tags: Politics, Power, Injustice, History, Justice

The Justification of Injustice: Abuse of Power Throughout History

Power is often construed as the single thing very integral to determine the fate of people. Though many great leaders in history have used their power to bring humanity forward, not so few had left huge catastrophes and tried to justified them. Arya Y Darmawan Follow Dec 12, 2020 · 4 min read

Power Defined

· POW·ER

/ˈpou(ə)r/

a. Political or social authority especially that exercised by a government.

b. A right or authority that is given or delegated to a person or body.

The Characteristics and Use of Power

Two important characteristics of power are; that it’s dynamic — it shifts and accumulates over time, and as it moves from one hand to another, it tends to corrupt those who wield it. It is historically well documented that power can, and have been used to further improve society — yet could also be used to enact mass genocide and crimes against humanity, the latter of which will be briefly analyzed to try to see the extent of; power held by the government, its many uses, and how it could, and has been abused throughout human history, leading to an eventual downfall.

Historical Instances of injustice and its justification

It is within these examples that one could see how society has time and time again allowed and even taken part in atrocities and injustice — how justice and morals could be sidelined if those with sovereignty and power wills it. The period, legitimacy, and justifications of its use may change, but the outcome may as well be certain; on many occasions and repeatedly, history has shown us that as power accumulates and concentrates those without it are left with nothing, festering injustice.

Ancient Egypt (3100 BC — 332 BC)

The Egyptian Pharaoh claim to the throne was that they were believed to have descended from a lineage of god(s), thus rightfully rule with divine kingship, (Sovereignty of God Julius Von Stahl), the most famous of which was the reign of Tutankhamun or King Tut, during which those who oppose the government or the will of the pharaoh are labeled as heretics or non-believers both of which would render any opposing views invalid. The people are often marginalized and-or neglected, and in many cases, freedom of expression is little to none. To put into perspective how long the Egyptian pharaohs reigned over Egypt, the great pyramid was built around 2600 BCE, over 1200 years prior to Tutankhamun’s death.

French Monarchy up until Louis XVI (1774–1792)

Up until 1793, France was led by a monarch, the last of which was Louis XVI of France. Even before his reign, France was already in a great economic and political instability, fueled by years of rampant corruption, inequality, and unfair treatment of the common folks, most notably; unfair taxation of the poor and frequent lavish aristocratic events and irresponsible spending, take for example, Marie Antoinette — her incessant spending-spree and hedonistic lifestyle earned her the nickname “Madame Déficit” Among the French populace, yet this was all done under the pretense of “the will of the crown” the will of a rightful heir of a noble lineage (Sovereignty of the Crown Protagoras & Thomas Hobbes), which only deepened the hatred of the people towards the aristocratic class and French nobility.

The French revolution (1789–1799)

Although seen as a historical landmark and heavily romanticized as a revolution for justice and liberty, the revolution itself was plagued by radicalism, fear-mongering, and genocide. What started as a movement to overthrow the oppressive aristocracy, ended up as a massacre of over 40.000 French minorities and was portrayed as a movement that seeks to empower the people (Sovereignty of The People J.J. Rousseau & John Locke), though it led to the birth of the Napoleonic aristocracy.

Nazi Germany (1933–1945)

The German Reich or the period where Germany was under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, which they transformed into a totalitarian dictatorship justified their heinous atrocities and war crimes as the will of the nation. The Germans (under the influence of Hitler’s ethnocentric and warmongering ideas) believed that a genocidal and expansionist war was justified, as a mean to attaining Lebensraum (the land or territory that a country’s leaders believe it requires in order to grow and flourish), and the ‘cleansing’ of the German population, in which millions of; physically and mentally disabled, homosexuals, Jews, and other marginalized groups were sent to consecration camps, and were later killed under the pretense of National Interest ( Sovereignty of The Nation Hans Kelsen & Ludwig Von Haller)

Today and the Future

As people realized the nature of governmental-power and how susceptible it was to abuse and corruption, it was generally agreed upon that checks and balances needed to be put in place to ensure the prosperity and well-being of the people were prioritized, hence, the emphasis on sovereignty through the rule of law, as stated in the Juristic Theory of Krabbe.

It is to be remembered, that power is never static and there may come a time where power once again dramatically shifts to a new — or even a resurrected political ideology, proven by the surge of extreme ideologies on both ends of the political spectrum; vocal demands of political reforms that go in accordance with religious scriptures in the right (the presumed will of the God) to the resurgence of Neo-Marxist ideas and demands of socialist reforms on the left (the presumed will of the people), ideologies that once led to the death of millions are now being re-established. As the past has shown us, human history often pivots on unavoidable and unforeseeable circumstances, leaving us to only speculate as to where power will shift next.