Noblesse Oblige gives way to the “Power dynamic”

The “power dynamic” , used in Matthew Syed’s piece in The Times today, is a good descriptor closely related to “Entitled” , the title of Andrew Lownie’s excellent book on the former Prince Andrew and his former wife. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Neither Andrew nor Max Verstappen , another misuser of power according to Syed, had absolute power but they arrogantly thought they did. And that’s enough.

The concept of “Noblesse Oblige” has taken a bashing recently. By fair means or foul, accident of birth or serendipity some people benefit from the power dynamic. In the much older phrase they think that they can walk on water. You do indeed see it in the Oval Office at the moment. This is what used to be called “Position power” where some in high office think they are relieved of the requirement to be decent, or honest, or truthful – even legal. Remember Richard Nixon’s “If the President does it it’s legal.” That is Trump’s mantra.

High achievers are a special breed and success rarely comes from humility. There are exceptions, but not many. The extraordinarily high achiever Elon Musk seems to think that his preeminence in one field gives him insights on everything. In fact it just gives him a platform to spout nonsense from time to time on subjects he knows nothing about. That denigrates him. We see it also with rich men in football from the comparatively benign Alan Sugar to the frankly scary Jim Ratcliffe. Stick to the knitting chaps!