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The need for power is particularly difficult to satisfy because in many cultures the mores of the culture condemn those who openly strive for it. Even politicians try to appear humble, emphasizing how much they wish to serve and how little they want to tell us what to do.
对于权力的渴望尤其难以得到满足，因为在许多文化背景下，道德标准会谴责那些公开追逐权力的人。甚至政客们也会竭力装出谦卑的样子，强调他们是多么希望服务于人民，多么不想对人民发号施令。
But regardless of cultural prejudices, power itself is neither good nor bad. In fact, if it were not for the need for power, our whole economy would crumble because almost all that is bought and sold, except for bare necessities, is for the sake of power.
但是如果抛开文化偏见，我们就会发现权力本身并无好坏之分。事实上，如果没有对权力的需求，我们的整个经济就会瘫痪，因为除了简单的生活必需品之外，我们所购买和销售的其他物品都是为权力而存在的。
When someone uses his power to help downtrodden people satisfy any of their needs, especially to get some power, this use of power is humane. But history records few examples of people like Martin Luther King, Jr., who used what power he had for the benefit of the powerless. Instead, history is full of tyrants who used their power to hurt people, and the reason that so many of us see power as bad is that so many people have been its victims. But even tyrants tend to talk about power as if it is bad. They preach the virtues of humility because the more people they can persuade to be humble, the more easily they can both preserve and add to the power that they have.
当有人使用权力帮助受难的人满足他们的需求时，特别是帮他们获得一些权力的时候，这种权力的使用就是人道的。马丁·路德·金运用自己手中的权力帮助那些无权力的人们获得利益，但是历史上像马丁·路德·金这样的例子并不多见。与此相反，历史上到处都是运用手中的权力去伤害他人的独裁者。我们中的很多人之所以把权力看成是坏事就是因为有许多人都成为了权力的牺牲品。但即使是独裁者们也常常将权力说成是坏的。他们常常宣扬谦卑的美德，因为他们越是能够说服更多的人谦卑，就越容易维护并扩大自己的权力。
While it is easy to understand that people who strive for power may become dominant and have a better chance to survive, most of us have difficulty accepting that this need is written in our genes.
那些追逐权力的人可能成为主宰，会有更好的机会生存，这很容易理解，但我们大多数人还是很难接受这一事实——对权力的需求就存在于我们的基因当中。
