When citing an essay from our library, you can use "Kibin" as the author. This allows our team to focus on improving the library and adding new essays. They do not directly describe any real-life events, but they do bear resemblances to real cases. Instead some leaders such as Kim Jong Il, Mao Zedong, and Joseph Stalin have become corrupt with power, much like Macbeth and Lady Throughout the history of human kind there are numerous example proving that absolute power corrupt absolutely. Sani Abacha was a Nigerian army officer and dictator who served as the president of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. However, he had really peculiar tastes. Lavrentiy Beria was not a nice man; operating just under Stalin during WWII, his power and reach were effectively absolute. Top 10 Shockingly Rich Celebrities & Their Net Worth, 10 Awesome Greek Gods You’ve Never Heard Of. The word is the past participle of corrumpere, meaning “mar, bribe, destroy”. Then again, when a guy has a soundproof rape room in his house, anyone would be uncomfortable leaving their children there. Again, this may seem tame compared to launching deadly snakes into a crowd of innocent people or slapping people across the face really, really hard. As a ruling class, samurai were entitled to a few privileges, one of which was Kiri-sute gomen, which was literally the right to cut down anyone of a lower class for any reason whatsoever, without reprieve. He was like that one person we all ... 2. In three years as president, he has transformed the executive branch into a giant favor factory, populated with the agents or … Throughout the course of history there have been many powerful political and military figures, who all took power too seriously and strayed off the path of being a fair and worthy leader. He’d bring them back to the palace and rape them. However, from what little information has been gathered about him, it was almost certainly horrific. Most of the time, the women’s family were either dead already, or forced to be in the room as Beria had his way with them. Though this wasn’t a practice likely followed by all samurai all the time, just realize that they had the ability to kill anyone they felt like, for any reason, and no one could do anything about it unless they too wanted a brutal neck-stabbing. Stalin grew up in a time where Communist ideologies led by Bolsheviks, was … Basically, during WWII Josef was given unlimited and unfettered access to the thousands of inmates passing through Auschwitz. Below you can find a few examples of how corruption occurs in Finland. We could go into the atrocities Kim committed, but there are enough of those on this list already. For example, people like Hitler and Napoleon have all committed shameful actions in the hopes of gaining absolute power. Slapping someone across the face may seem like small potatoes compared to the other things on this list, but you have to realize Christian saw no difference between slapping a peasant and one of his lords. Corruption can have a variety of variants such as: using the office directly for personal enrichment; cavalierly using taxpayers’ money for excessive perks; using the power of agencies for the enrichment of self, family, friends and allies; and thwarting the lawfully established actions or … A s a young industrial power, the United States suffered from levels of political corruption commonly associated today with impoverished nations in the developing world. Therefore the original quote from Lord Acton should be understood to mean that most men of power in history have been bad, tyrannical men, and that the more power they have accumulated, the more corrupt they get. The essays in our library are intended to serve as content examples to inspire you as you write your own essay. Well, he mugged people. - Alfredo Alvarez, student @ Miami University. Furthermore, he observed that the corruption in the Philippines has a close resemblance to countries in Latin America including Argentina, Mexico, and Peru. If you don’t have any children of your own, take a leaf out of Josef’s book and borrow some. Awesome job Karl!! Kim Jong-Il. A good example of systematic corruption in U.S. history is Martin Van Buren's Albany Regency, which doled out bank charters to important supporters of the machine. Many women wound up killed or dying from their injuries. It is an act of misuse of power and being dishonest towards the process that we are part of, usually involving payment of black money in the form of bribe. What makes you cringe? Why? This is among the findings of a new working paper co-written by Harvard Law School Professor Matthew Stephenson ’03 and California State Supreme Court Justice and Stanford Professor Mariano-Florentino Cuellar … When there, Beria would rape the woman in a soundproofed room and then give her a bunch of flowers. He didn’t mug people because he needed money, he did it because he liked stabbing random people, and he enjoyed the power he felt when his victims realized he was the Emperor and that there was literally nothing they could do to stop him from punching their lungs full of speed holes, without risking being tortured to death for treason. Only Commodus would have probably stabbed your dog too. Because what’s a little human suffering when you’ve got dinner to make? Why? to view the complete essay. For more information on choosing credible sources for your paper, check out this blog post. Liked it? His sexual appetite was such that even Stalin himself feared for his daughter’s life and innocence when she was alone with him. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” His maxim has been vividly illustrated in psychological studies, notably the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, which was … Again we could go into much, much more detail about the horrific acts this man committed because of the power he held, but lets be honest here — after reading that you already know he was pure evil. The list of all the crazy stuff Kim claimed to have done or invented is massive: he invented the hamburger, the weather was directly linked to his mood, and the first time he ever played golf he got 11 holes-in-one. Being in a position of power is awesome, and we’re not going to lie: given nigh unlimited god-like power over millions of people, we’d probably abuse it just a little. Unbelievably, virtually nothing of any medical significance was ever discovered in post-war research into his work, aside from “poison and mutilation are bad for you.” If you’re looking for some closure here, Josef died many years later in Brazil, as a free man. Yet if you look at what he’s done with power in the past, suddenly this theme in his biography — his corruption — becomes among the most troubling of his many troubling qualities. The example essays in Kibin's library were written by real students for real classes. Because Christian had a rather unusual habit of slapping people as hard as he could across the face whenever he damn well felt like it. Using his vast reach and virtually unopposed power over life and death, Beria would drive around Russia in his armored limousine (because power comes with all the best perks,) pick out any woman who took his fancy, and have his men bring them back to his mansion. Josef Mengele. Consider the Egyptian Pharaoh, Ramesses who proclaimed himself God. Nope, we’re going to talk about what Ivan did to dogs and cats, because the Internet loves them more than people apparently. 3. There’s a word for this: corruption. With that in mind, here's our list of the top six corrupt leaders of (relatively) recent history. We could have probably written this entire list about Roman emperors, but we only wanted to include the really insane ones, and Caligula was likely the most insane of them all. The practice also existed in ancient China. You have to admit, that’s kind of harsh. He’d remove limbs, castrate and sterilize his victims (who again, were mostly children) and meticulously note what happened. In Chinese m… Elagabalus would also force his guests to eat rocks, and play awesome practical jokes like trapping them in rooms with live lions. Power has advantages and disadvantages for leaders. Well the short answer is tons and tons of rape. History's greatest villains showed a lot more effort and, frankly, a lot more creativity. This looks pretty useless, doesn't it? Women who didn’t accept the flowers would be arrested and sent to the Gulags, because Beria was an ass like that. Dual roles and partial criteria distort competition 5. Okay, one more Roman Emperor, then we promise we’ll stop. 4. Kibin does not guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of the essays in the library; essay content should not be construed as advice. Sign up The undisputed poster child for graft and greed in American politics, William … Ray Blanton A former member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Blanton was elected Governor in 1975. We think it’s far more amazing that he used his power and reach to basically write fan fiction about how awesome he was, then convinced his entire country to believe it. Corruption occurs at all levels of society and in many different sectors. The Oxford Dictionarydefines corruption as “dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery”. For example, it’s widely accepted that Caligula once had an entire section of a crowd gathered at the Coliseum thrown to the animals because he was bored, but an important part most miss out on is that he had their tongues cut out first so they couldn’t complain about it. The executions he’d hand out seemingly at random whenever he felt like it? He called people under his realm citizens, and tried to empower them as best he could- Then he got the power bug. This last act was a token gesture that Beria did as to make the sex seem consensual. A defector once described how he took a beauty pageant winner into a small room with a knife and, when he was finished, all that was left was a pile of bloody meat on the floor. His abuse of the nobility? While the western world is less obviously affected, it still falls victim to graft. He was basically a rich spoiled child everyone was too afraid to scold. Though many of the stories about him have been blown out of proportion as time has marches on, a lot of them are grounded in fact. But you have to remember, Nero had virtually no need for money; anything he couldn’t afford, he could just take. In Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth, a Scottish noble's craving for power leads him to do terrible deeds that leads to his demise. It looks like you've lost connection to our server. If you’ve never heard of this guy, read his Wikipedia entry, and then quietly hug your children and cry. They're not intended to be submitted as your own work, so we don't waste time removing every error. But it gets worse! With a name like Ivan the Terrible, you’re probably not holding out much hope for this one. Yes, we’re making this entry about all samurai, because they were all, as far as we could tell, buttholes of the highest degree. As Emperor, no opponent would ever dare strike Commodus in open combat, meaning all of his gladiatorial fights were him simply beating unarmed men to death. He was convicted of money laundering, fraud, embezzlement and electoral crimes the following year, and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. If they resisted he’d torture them with knives, turn dogs on them or have his bodyguard brutally gangrape and beat them. Famous examples include the Soviet Union, Cuba, and China. However, here’s a list of 10 people who went way too far, because they were in charge and because they could. Even psychology has shown the “power” of power to corrupt. Because who was going to argue with him? Power Corruption In Animal Farm, By George Orwell. When he was travelling by armored train across North Korea, he had lobster airlifted to him every single day. To protect the anonymity of contributors, we've removed their names and personal information from the essays. Classic examples include bribery, clientelism, and embezzlement. Let us know! As the United States grew into the world’s leading industrial power during the late 19th century, those atop the economic ladder in America’s Gilded Age accumulated spectacular fortunes. He also stabbed animals to death from a high wall to prove how great he was. 1. Uday was one of the biggest monsters I’ve ever read about. He was completely safe in the knowledge that anything he did could be passed off as legitimate medical experimentation, and that no one would stop him unless they wanted an angry letter from Hitler. Though that film went out of its way to represent Commodus as an unlikable, power-mad dictator, the movie didn’t even approach how insane he truly was. And they are harnessing the power of the federal government on behalf of their businesses. An example from modern history that could be shown to exemplify this was the rise of Joseph Stalin in Soviet Russia. It’s noted that in his youth, because he wanted to hear their anguished screams, and also because he could, Ivan would throw cats and dogs off of the walls of the Kremlin. Most societies throughout history have been systematically corrupt, as are most societies around the world today. For example, he loved him some eel, but to make it tastier he fattened them up by feeding them live slaves. Commodus openly believed that he was a direct descendant of Hercules, and as such fought in the arena as much as he could — fought being a word we use in the loosest possible sense of the word. Simply murdering unarmed men and slaughtering hundreds of wild animals for fun wasn’t enough for Commodus; he had the audacity to charge the city of Rome for every appearance in the arena he made. In reality, samurai were huge douchewads who cut people down for fun because they were one of the ruling classes of Japan. As it can be seen in the photo, the bridge is quite unnecessary as it doesn't… Kim Jong-Il literally lived the dream of being a billionaire playboy who owned his own country. Trump has sowed corruption of a breadth and brazenness unseen in the far-from-innocent annals of our nation’s history. Whereas other Roman emperors enjoyed murdering people, Elagabalus just really liked eating. When he wasn’t annoying his friends, Elagabalus also held a lottery for the people of Rome. Amount Embezzled: $100 million | Years in Office: 5Soon after leaving office in 2002, the 81st President of Nicaragua, Arnoldo “El Gordo” Aleman, was arrested on corruption charges involving $100 million of state owned funds. The First Dynasty (3100–2700 BC) of ancient Egypt notedcorruption in its judiciary. In 2018, Transparency International ranked the United States as the 22nd least corrupt country, falling from 18th since 2016. And that, ladies and gentlemen is the image we want to leave you with. stabbed animals to death from a high wall, He’d remove limbs, castrate and sterilize his victims, Top 10 Animals You Didn’t Know We Just Discovered, Top 10 Characters Needed For A Batman Versus Superman Movie, Future Archaeologists Will Find These Things Very Weird…, Fascinating Facts About the Indus Valley Civilization, 10 More of History’s Strangest Punishments, 10 Fascinating Relics From Ancient History, Top 10 Famous & Deadly Swords & Their History, Top 10 People With The Most Descendants Ever, Top 10 Most Important Captain America Comics & Stories, Josip Broz ‘Tito’ Biography: Too Tough for Stalin, Adrian Carton de Wiart Biography: The Unbreakable Soldier. BOSS TWEED. No guest ever complained, because they enjoyed living. For example, the President of the United States holds tremendous power that can lead to great rewards and perks, but the President’s position and legacy fade away once he leaves office. Samurai. There was also corruption due to the absolute power found in the Renaissance/Colonial times. Hitler should defiantly be in there somewhere. We'll take a look right away. That’s just the kind of man he was; he didn’t just kill people on a whim, he made sure they suffered too. Top 10 Worst Abuses of Power in History. It’s an example of total disregard for even the most simple human courtesy, an example of someone so safe in the knowledge they can do whatever they want, so without empathy for the feelings of others, that physically assaulting them is little more than something to pass the time. Think of this as more of a glimpse into the mind of someone with absolute power than us saying the slapping thing is in line with cutting people’s tongues out. All were equal, and all were slappable in his eyes. So what are we going to talk about? On the positive side, power makes leaders more assertive and confident and certain … Macbeth becomes corrupt under the … You may remember Emperor Commodus from the Gladiator movie. Thanks .. Our newest biography website and YouTube channel. Biographics – History, One Life at a Time. Same thing: he’d drive around Iraq in a car and his men would seize whichever girl he liked (sometimes several a day). Reading example essays works the same way! Now, the Internet has a huge chubby for samurai and feudal Japan in general, but this is almost certainly because the Internet has learned everything it knows about Japan from Dragon Ball Z, Jackie Chan movies and anime. What hooks you? Emperor Heliogabalus. Privacy Policy | TopTenz T-Shirts | Sponsors. A bunch of his guards signed sworn documents that they’d seen him do it. The corruption uncovered within his administration was so rif… Samurai were free to exercise this right for the smallest infraction or slight against them, if they were feeling generous, they could just lop off a limb instead of killing someone for not saying thank you. When he wanted North Korea to have a film industry, he kidnapped a famous South Korean director, presumably single-handedly while fighting off a group of capitalist ninjas because at this point, why the hell not? Cite Essays may be lightly modified for readability or to protect the anonymity of contributors, but we do not edit essay examples prior to publication. Kim Jong-Il literally lived the dream of being a billionaire playboy who owned his own country. Julius Caesar's assassination is a double example. Take a second to support Toptenz.net on Patreon! Corruption in Pakistan is widespread, particularly in the government and lower levels of police forces.