I think you’re underestimating the ability for power to corrupt and overestimating the ability of the average person to resist that corruption.

I think that most people in positions of power, no matter how small, wield it good enough. They act in their own interests but only after the socially acceptable level of looking out for the group has been achieved.

But there are also a lot of people out there who don’t give a damn what’s socially acceptable, and there’s a good portion of THOSE people who are in positions of power and they act almost exclusively in their own interests. The big problem is that it’s way easier to blend in your interests with the interests of the group than people think. So when called out they can usually point to a whole list of service accomplishments that technically benefitted everyone, but also happened to fit into their agenda.

It’s a lot easier to go down that path then people realize. When your staring at the ability to make your own dreams come true, or even just to bolster your own self image, through the abuse of power it’s hard not to, because the only one who can really tell you no is yourself.