The Power Junkie

In so many ways we're still a feudal society. Which makes it easy for someone with ruthless ambitions or special privileges to degenerate into a Power Junkie. This is perhaps the most dangerous addiction of all, since the Power Junkie ultimately feeds like a vampire off other people's fears and weaknesses. Of course, the consummate Power Junkie takes pains to ensure that other people's fears and weaknesses are further reinforced: he owns or controls all the mass media so the public can be systematically enfeebled through a steady diet of bad news. After a few generations, cynicism turns to pessimism and pessimism turns to despair; and despair tells us resistance is futile.

The professional Power Junkie also invests public funds in a private police force equipped with high-tech surveillance systems and advanced torture techniques. He always keeps a few victims dangling around in his dungeons like any mediaeval duke or South American dictator would do. Everything he does is in the interest of Security - his own, not yours. Unlike the Real Junkie (i.e., the hardcore drug addict) who seems hell-bent on committing slow suicide, the Power Junkie usually progresses beyond mere homicide and ends up experimenting with genocide. Rehabilitation is possible in very rare instances where the victim is compelled to resign from public office (the Power Junkie's natural habitat).

My general advice is to eat lots of garlic and always keep a wooden stake handy. Even a well-sharpened pencil will do.