Money? The power to control?

I may be late at working this out, but it has occurred to me that the more power one has, the more ability one has to act – and contribute -  in the interest of those around one.
In other words, the more power one has, the more ability one has to DO GOOD.

Then I look at those who are ‘powerful’ and see that this is not often happening.
Why not? Does anyone know?

Looking at our PM and his cohorts. They seem to wield a great deal of power, so what good have they done lately?
Well, so far, in the past three years, (apart from buggering up foreign affairs), they have….

• tortured welfare dependent people by sending out bogus demands for money, that they did NOT owe,
• frustrated disabled people with maladministration of the NDIS,
• broken promises by neglecting to ensure money went to those who lost homes in the horrendous bushfires…
• ignored Fire Services plea for desperate needed $20 million for aerial fire-fighters (and yet gave $42 million to Hillsong church).
• made sure private schools received the bulk of education grants,
• in one way, actually helped the unemployed and under-employed by increasing payments during the Covid crisis, but later removed it at a crucial time, as people searched for (non-existent) jobs,
• planned spending $24 BILLION on war missiles,
• removed 17,000 university jobs, (blaming Covid, but?)
• and, of course, routinely made sure their wealthy mates benefited from tax breaks and handouts.

 
I could go on….but...

Not many ‘good deeds’ there!
 
The other fact that has occurred to me is that the more MONEY one has, the more POWER one is seemingly magically given.
To have lots of money - and I mean LOTS - gives a person power, meaning access to people who own resources to be able to help others in massive ways.

So, do they use their power and their money for the good of others, as well as themselves?
Well, not usually.

This is what they do:
The powerfully rich give money to other powerful people (in government) to benefit THEMSELVES.

No, not to benefit others, but to benefit THEMSELVES.

One might use a tiny fraction of their 29 billion accumulated wealth to donate to charity, (to silence the critics) while being surprisingly hateful towards their own children and making more money than they would ever be able to spend in eleventy-thousand lifetimes.

There’s a bloke who creates his own charities, only to then instruct the Government what to do, who to 'help' (in a mean & cruel way) and what to buy…including worthless PPE gear and Covid testing kits he sourced in China for which he charged the Aus Gov.$325 MILLION.  (Geez!)

And the man who donated over $9 million to political parties and then benefited greatly from countless Gov decisions. In one instance, this bloke donated $1.5 million and then had the cheek to claim $10 million from the bush fire foundation.  And got it! (True!)

There are a lot more examples, but they make me sick.

I am seriously wondering why those in power, only think of themselves?

AND, which came first? Are these people selfish because they are powerful, or are they powerful because of a lifetime of being selfish?
These are genuine questions.

Sure, there are some exceptions to the rule, such as the occasional philanthropist and benefactor, giving freely of a portion of their riches.

There is the occasional generous billionaire in Australia, including one who is actually helpful towards others, in the area of climate change.
 
But I have witnessed people who have little money being far more generous (relatively speaking), using a bigger portion of the little they have to help others.

Why is this so?

Winston Churchill was once quoted as saying:
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

Anyone?