I guess I think power is both inevitable and necessary. Inevitable because, even if power based on financial or political clout were eliminated, some people would still have power based on physical, intellectual, or perhaps artistic superiority. Necessary because people are not uniformly good-intentioned or in agreement, and if most members of a society or community make the choice to live in a particular way, there needs to be some way of forcing people who do not make that choice either to do so or to leave the community. (This sounds extreme if you're thinking about whether homeowners mow their lawn, but not if you're thinking about whether a person rapes, murders, robs, etc.) What might be the best solution is merely to have power based on legitimate grounds rather than illegitimate grounds; to make sure everyone has access to power (and it is not passed down from father to son, e.g.); and to have power exercised to the minimal extent. I think of the power that it is necessary for a parent to have over a child. Letting the child do whatever s/he wants is dangerous and does not produce an adult capable of restraining her/his impulses. But you don't want to control the child all the time, and you do want to offer explanations. Susan
