Should We Tear Down Those Statues | Sven Gerst

Lord Acton famously stated that «Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men». This liberal mantra of «Skepticism about Power» is not only deeply rooted in the way liberals approach state authority; but it also the way we think about social and economic hierarchies. Yet, do we need to reject all power structures, all hierarchies, all forms of leadership? And what to expect from political leaders in times of crisis — how should they yield the powers we grant them? Does skepticism about power mean that we ought to reject all hierarchies…and tear down all those statues? Lecture by the philosopher Sven Gerst, PhD student at Department of Political Economy, King’s College London.