“All struggles are essentially power struggles”

I think I could make a case both for and against this Earthseed quote, because I can see how you could relate any struggle back to a power struggle, but I don’t think getting rid of the root of all power struggles would get rid of all struggles. I think this verse implies that because “all struggles are essentially power struggles”, by making the distribution of power perfect, you would eliminate all struggles, and that by improving the unequal distribution of power, you start to get rid of struggles. A “power struggle”, according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is, “a fight for control”. According to this definition, someone struggling because they don’t have enough to eat or drink is part of a power struggle because they are fighting for control over what resources they have access to and ultimately consume. If power was evenly distributed among people in our world, theoretically this person’s struggle would be solved because everyone would have enough to eat. But if the root of the problem was that the entire world did not have enough resources for all of its people, solving the power struggle, wouldn’t solve the struggle of someone not having enough food. In a similar way, someone struggling with a mental illness would be part of a power struggle as they fight for control over their own mind. But in this case, while “winning” the power struggle and regaining control over the person’s mind might improve their situation, it doesn’t necessarily “fix” the problem. Even though there is no longer a power struggle, there is still a struggle. Overall, I agree with Lauren’s statement that “all struggles are essentially power struggles”, but the way I initially interpreted it doesn’t apply to all struggles, just most of them.


Comments

  1. L. MoffittMay 20, 2021 at 9:36 AM

    Really interesting ideas here. I don't know that one could ever solve a power struggle by itself in the sense of eliminating the problematic power dynamic. Maybe "all struggles are essentially power struggles" really means that we have to find a more fair and equitable way to deal with power, since there will always be power imbalances. People in power can be benevolent, after all, but they have to be motivated.

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