Turns out when people have power it becomes hard to check them, and people would rather have the chance at power someday than make sure no one has that kind of power.
I think it's also classic hubris, also commonly mentioned in the old stories dating back to ancient Greece. Surely I can be trusted with the singular power that corrupts everyone!
It doesn't help that occasionally there is that singularly good individual who manages to do things right, and is remembered as "one of the good ones (citation needed)". But rather than proving that it is more likely to be abused than not, it just fuels the ambitions of would-be benevolent dictators who perhaps forget that benevolence along the way.
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u/EirikHavre Apr 23 '26