The Synth's Substack

The Synth's Substack

Why Lord Acton Still Matters: Constraint Is the Price of Stability

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

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Chris Ciappa
Dec 23, 2025
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“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.”

— John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 1887

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