Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us
by Brian Klaas
View on GoodreadsDoes power corrupt, or do corruptible people go looking for it? Klaas's answer, drawn from more than 500 interviews with people ranging from philanthropists to dictators and cult leaders, is both. Hierarchies attract and promote the wrong people, so if you want better leaders, you have to change how systems recruit, rotate and watch them.
Core ideas
- Two shipwrecks: In a 1629 wreck a psychopathic pharmacist orchestrated more than 100 murders, while marooned young Tongan men who shared power all survived.
- Drawn to the top: People with narcissistic, Machiavellian and psychopathic traits seek power, and systems from homeowners' associations to national governments amplify that pull.
- Oversight works: He proposes rotating powerful positions, sortition, more oversight and not recruiting former soldiers as police.
Published2021
Pages320
ISBN9781982154097
ReadMay 2023
