OPINION: Power-Why Sometimes You Can't Win

THIS PIECE IS WRITTEN BASED ON THE AUTHOR'S BELIEFS AND OPINIONS, THEY DO NOT REFLECT WHAT THE INQUIRER ITSELF BELIEVES. WE RESPECT THE RIGHT TO HAVING YOUR OWN OPINIONS.

Power itself is a contradiction. It can bring you power, but it can also destroy you. Power can bring joy and happiness to the world, but it can also cause unimaginable levels of death and destruction to the same degree. At the right times, it can bring massive amounts of acceleration to your goals, but it can also halt your progress and be counterproductive. This is why power is interesting–not because it can get you whatever you want, but because it works in complex ways and almost always benefits the wielder if used masterfully. 

Almost everyone seeks power, whether to be famous, physically attractive, wealthier, or to have more friends. Sadly, there is a difference between wanting power and actually acquiring it. Let’s take financial power as an example. The more money and capital someone has, the more buying power they have as an individual. A “finance bro” earning seven figures can comfortably buy his wife a new car, but the average construction worker who earns 350 baht a day can barely pay the lease for his motorbike in time. These are staggering differences, often defined by their socioeconomic background.

The first major effects of a person’s socioeconomic background can be seen early in their life, especially during their years in Primary and Secondary school. A “dek inter” attending an international school has access to expert teachers from foreign countries, brand-new equipment, an inclusive environment, large sports complexes, etc. The average child without any advantages will have a harder time getting reliable access to these resources. Sure, the government has an English education program, intended to improve language skills to help with networking and communication with people from all over the world in the future–but the implementation can be far from ideal. When educational institutions are strained by tight funds, they may be forced to recruit locally, opting for teachers who might not even be fluent in the language they themselves are teaching. Fewer funds to go around can also lead to larger class sizes, limited extracurricular activities/counseling, outdated textbooks, and less effective forms of teaching. Education is often regarded as the most defining factor in an individual’s future; of course, the trilingual student-athlete who goes to the Ivy League will have a better chance of becoming a millionaire than a normal Joe. 

When students leave college or high school, they enter the workforce. There, the privileged are yet again advantaged. A well-educated worker is more likely to be hired by a Fortune 500 company than a normal person, offering them more opportunities to work on ambitious projects, acquire a rewarding income, and generally become more financially stable. Especially for people who grew up in low-income areas, finding a good job becomes increasingly difficult. This is exacerbated by the adoption of AI. Artificial intelligence reduces the likelihood of human error, fatality, and confusion to 0, this means that companies will not have to rely on as many accountants, secretaries, and construction workers as before. 

The disadvantaged continue to live worse than others, forming and growing their own families that also have to live in the same conditions their parents and grandparents have grown up with. If you ask, “Well, can’t they just “lock in” and make more money?”, the answer is: well, yeah, but also no. It is indeed true that someone who was born in a low-income neighborhood and taught in an ill-funded school that failed to provide them with adequate skills and experience will still be able to break the cycle of poverty. However, this requires a massive amount of dedication, audacity, and luck. Unfortunately, most of the disadvantaged will stay advantaged. 

When progressive governments attempt to pass new laws encouraging labor unions and increased minimum wage, the corporations send in their lobbyists to bribe and pressure the democratic apparatus of nations to maintain the status quo, solely because the status quo is making them rich. When the government itself cannot give the disadvantaged a higher minimum wage, and cannot provide for them a better opportunity to grow and expand their skills, then the system is rigged from the start. 

Those who think that lobbyists and executives of multibillion-dollar companies can be reasoned with ethics and emotional arguments have a cloudy vision. When your net worth is larger than the GDP of most nations, why should you care that your average employee is forced to pee in jars and is paid barely enough to feed their 2 children? Yes, there are philanthropists who give up large sums of their wealth for the benefit of the disadvantaged, but those are still the minority in the world of wealth and power. 

Although this article is very gloomy and negative, there are things that can be done to potentially enact change. As the companies themselves will not change the status quo, the people must change it. The “average Joe” previously mentioned must show their hidden power, the ability to boycott, strike, and paralyze the logistics of any major company. Strength in numbers is the only thing that will potentially cause change in the world. Furthermore, for the change to be completed, a new generation of politicians that will follow through on their promises must be created. It is unlikely that change will occur in the next decade or two but through the globalization of communication and information distribution, the change to a fairer, less more equal world is possible. The shift to this world rests in the hands of the generation of young people, just like you who are reading this piece. It’s an uphill battle, yes. It doesn’t mean you can’t win.