7. The Power and Violence.

              The answer of the question of what is the power is not the only one. Steven Lukes argued three different types of the power. The primary power is the power which A makes B do. The secondary power is the power that A is multiplied. The tertiary power is the power that B cannot notice the existence of A. this is the critical problem whether people can notice the power or not.

Foucault conceptualized that the power resides in every human relationship and it was promoted from the bottom but not the top. I would not argue the details of this because the issue I point out is not the micro power but the macro power including the government. The most noticeable characteristics of the macro power are that it monopolizes the legitimate power. This is the essence of the power of the nation state. The power in this context means the police and military power. The counter violence against crime and evil is legitimated by the law. The power is observed in the capitalists and in mass media, although the center of the power is the nation.

              Yet, as Negri and Hardt argued, the new subject of the power came out. This is “the empire”. The empire showed up because the power of the nation has decreased since the end of the cold war in 1990’s. “The empire” is defined as the subject that has the power as the network of the nations. This is the age when the power transcends the boundaries of the nations.

The issue of this age is not the matter of the international law or the matter from the humanitarian standpoint, but the matter of the “global order”. Moreover, they emphasized that war becomes usual conditions for the exceptional conditions. Furthermore, in the modern war, the power relationship between the stronger and weaker is obvious. The stronger states the objective that they do not produce the dead soldiers. The power and war are facing to the new condition.

              What is the relationship between the power and people? The normal condition of them is found obedience and dependence. People would not recognize the power as legitimate if they cannot gain the security, the order, efficiency, proficiency, secure and peace instead. If people do not recognize the power as legitimate violence, then the power will threat the individuals who fight resistance, abhorrence, and malignance against the power.

The problem may not be the power itself but be the way of the power. Anarchism is plausible in theory, although it is not realistic. To seek for acquiring the power is to obtain the will that makes this predominance temporally to permanent that is over the generations.

Whether it is fortune or not, there are filled with factors that can exert it. The capital can not only be accumulated or be taken over, but also can be augmented. The capital itself is the power in these days. The power is the tool that allows people to be satisfied with their drive and desire. People think that it is impossible to live in better conditions without preserving the power. In addition, people cannot live without being dependent on the power. Additionally, people even believe that the better society is the society which people are dependent totally on the power. It might be illusion, although there is not enough time to realize it as illusion. If people articulate that, they would be told not to think about it and are told to enjoy this situation. Seeking for desire and pleasure is recommended by the society compared with critical thinking.

              As noted before this chapter, the most noticeable characteristics of the power are that it is used as the legitimate violence. Violence is considered from different aspects. Some philosophers think about it is the essence of the existence of human beings, and the others think about it is as holly. Yet, I have questions about the methods of the interpretation of it. I am not sure that there is universal essence of human beings. Some might prefer to use or observe violence, the others might not. It can be the matter of preference or the matter of individual characteristics.        

              Violence is not only being the means but it also is objective. If it is means, it can be another means. If it is objective, it cannot be replaceable. What is the condition that violence is becoming the objective?

              Regardless of the power or violence, power contains devilishness. The more strengthen the power is the more devilishness is. People would recognize it as nobleness and holiness. These notions can easily trespass the judgment of goodness. Human reason must fight against this devilishness. Moreover, people must notice that the subject is incorporated by the violence structure and the power.

              A large number of people show their obedience and respect to the power, although they criticize the putrefaction and unjust of the power. It might be the true attitude toward it, or it might be a gesture to pursue for another objective. The power knows the wisdom and a mean spirit of people who obey to it. When people are controlled by the power and when people are incorporate, the power will strike people as violence.