Great quote, second-hand from Randall Robinson's discussion of his post Jane's Law in Action: "...using one of John W. Campbell's observations, it is not power that corrupts but rather the perception of immunity from consequences." Absolutely no doubt about it. All evil acts require that perception. I have another quote on my wall here, from Ernest Hancock: "Activism is nothing more than making certain that there are consequences for unprincipled behavior by individuals and/or groups that would otherwisw know no end to what they can do to satisfy their lust for control over others."

I'm not just speaking of politics here, though. It also applies to personal sins. I was going to say peccadillos, but I'm afraid getting drunk a lot grows out of the stage of "little sin". Of course, my experience is, that I can (often) foresee the consequences perfectly well, but when I'm drunk, I don't care.

I went to AA last night. I was pretty much unable to talk. I did read when it was my turn, though I almost choked when I got to the part about the smart-assed intellectual who is just so much better than everybody else that he won't listen to anyone (or any small voice inside either; my aside I don't think that's in that passage).

The step was #2: came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. That's a tough one for a "student of Objectivism". A great line in the book says that you can accept the group is that power (or the individuals making up the group) because they've quit drinking and you haven't.