Power Independent Essays 2023 by Warwick Schools Foundation

Power Independent Essays

Foreword ‘Power corrupts and Absolute Power corrupts absolutely.’ When we set the challenge to the Year 9s to write an essay in response to the theme of power, it was notable how many turned to psychology, politics and sociology to explore ideas of power as something eminently corruptible. Many of the boys responded to what they had witnessed in social media and explored it through a range of disciplinary lenses. Many also responded to power in terms of energy and we were impressed by their commitment to powering the world in an environmentally-conscious manner. We also enjoyed reading essays on mathematical and chemical powers where boys had gone beyond the syllabus to explore their own interests. It was difficult to judge the winners. We applaud them all for their bravery in tackling the topic and their enthusiasm for intelligent, critical research. We hope that you enjoy them too.

Kimberley Wyatt Senior Deputy Head

Laura DeVouge-Bernards Head Librarian

The intoxication of power: how Putin became the political psychopath of the modern age Max McLintock

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”1 During Vladimir Putin’s 23 years as Russia’s president, not only has he assumed absolute power through cruel and brutal methods but has also taken the country from an autocracy to a dictatorship built on the foundations of repression and fear. According to the neuropsychologist, Ian Robertson, “Putin’s personality and thinking have become grossly distorted by the effects of enormous, largely unfettered power on his brain…. Absolute power makes you blind to risk, highly egocentric, narcissistic.”2 These are the traits of a psychopath. In fact, Putin easily fits the description of a psychopath – a charming, ruthless and highly manipulative individual who lies for personal gain, someone who lacks empathy or remorse, an egotist who believes they are beyond the law. There is no doubt that Putin has been intoxicated by the power he holds but what is it about his life and leadership that has created a deluded psychopathic dictator? Many of Putin’s behaviours were learnt during his time working as a foreign intelligence officer at the KGB, Russia’s ruthless intelligence agency and a force of secret police designed to quash political dissent. Every KGB agent was required to pledge allegiance to the state. This patriotism was used to justify the KGB’s brutal tactics of terror, intimidation and execution. Corruption and bribery were the norm. Agents were programmed to lie and deceive; to scare and manipulate the public, and to exert control whilst also rooting out opposition to the government. John Sipher, a former US CIA officer, described the KGB as “a terrorist organisation... all about keeping the leadership in power at all costs.”3 Putin’s psychopathic methods of intimidation and deception were implanted in his mind by the KGB’s perspective of necessary acts to maintain power. In his 2000 autobiography, Putin admitted that the appeal of joining the KGB was the personal power KGB agents enjoyed: “One man’s effort could achieve what whole armies could not. One spy could decide the fate of thousands of people”4, showing Putin was always

F IRST P R IZE

attracted to the prospect of power and its endless opportunities for control. Putin’s time in the KGB taught him how to use corrupt and psychopathic methods for absolute power, pushing these boundaries to significant effect. The KGB planted the seeds for Putin’s nationalistic, extremist methods of rule in Russia and taught him that absolute power could be achieved using secrecy, lies, institutionalised murder and repression, all justified to safeguard the State. Deception and manipulation are psychopathic traits, and they are also skills Putin learnt to use throughout his career to achieve his objectives. In 2023, Putin’s former speechwriter, Abbas Gallyamov, called him “a chameleon”5 because of Putin’s ability to adapt to people and circumstances for personal gain. For example, in 1999, the year Putin became Prime Minister, he was still relatively unknown to the Russian people. Around that time, there was a series of bombings in Moscow, blamed on Chechen separatists seeking independence from Russia. In truth, the bombings were believed to be orchestrated on Putin’s orders by the FSB (as the KGB became known) to give Putin an excuse to start a second Chechen war and improve his visibility and reputation in Russia. Putin gave no thought to human life, callously abusing international humanitarian laws by ordering the complete destruction of the Chechen city Grozny. Tens of thousands of civilians died and Putin showed no remorse, instead coldly stating that Russian troops “fulfilled their task to the end.”6 It is no coincidence that at the same time Putin proactively began building relationships with the West, evidenced by his attendance at the G7 Summit in Tokyo and meetings with NATO. Putin displayed psychopathic behaviours, deceiving, and manipulating the West, creating a picture of trust between him and world leaders to increase his power while denying and concealing his conscienceless actions in Chechnya. Putin’s psychopathic tendencies have developed from building a government built on corruption, secretly controlling the majority of wealth in Russia. Putin’s most prominent political opponent, Alexei Navalny, believes

1 ‘Test a man’s character’ quote attributed to the politician Robert G. Ingersoll in 1883, praising Abraham Lincoln – Reuters, 3 August 2021 - https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-abrahamlincoln-power-idUSL1N2PA1V7. 2 Ian Robertson Ph.D – “The danger that lurks inside Vladimir Putin’s brain” – Psychology Today 17 March 2014 3 Haltiwanger, J. - Putin’s KGB past is key to grasping what he might do next in his failing Ukraine war, ex-spies say. - Business Insider – 24 February 2023. - https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-kgb-taught-him-lie-think-like-terrorist-ex-spies-2022. 4 Putin autobiography “First Person: an astonishingly frank self-portrait by Russia’s President” first published 1 June 2000 5 Abbas Gallyamov – interview with TSN Daily News January 2023 6 McQuilkin, H. and Chakrabarti, M, 2 March 2022 - What Putin’s destruction of Grozny in 1999 means for Ukraine now - https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2022/03/02/putin-grozny-chechen-ukraine-russia-military-past.

that “the seeds of corruption were planted” when Putin as a KGB agent “developed relations with figures who later formed his oligarchs, financial elites and political supporters.”7 The 1992 “food for oil” scandal occurred whilst Putin was the mayor’s official in St Petersburg. In a 100 million US dollar scheme, raw materials were meant to be exchanged for food to help the city’s starving people. Although materials were exported, food never arrived and the money disappeared. Putin’s signature was on the paperwork. He was prepared to cruelly sacrifice the starving Russian public for private gain. In 2014, Russia hosted the Sochi Winter Olympics, costing over 50 billion US dollars, the most expensive in history. Putin gave no thought to the Russian people struggling as the country was close to recession. Sochi was his pet project to present Russia as a strong world power and himself as a great leader. More than 30 billion US dollars of the total cost was said to have disappeared by way of bribes to Putin’s oligarch cronies, as secret payments hidden within infrastructure contracts. Putin exploited this global event, using government money to satisfy his close network of oligarchs and keep a polarised hierarchy in society, by granting wealth to the rich rather than the poor. Corruption in Russia is deeply rooted within the government, in fact it is a fundamental pillar of Putin’s power base. Putin developed relationships with the Russian mafia while working in St Petersburg. He collaborated with the infamous Tambov and Malyshev crime groups to gain control of St Petersburg’s gambling industry and used his mayoral office to launder mafia money. During this time, Putin also enjoyed the influence and personal benefits that crime could give him, learning that corruption could protect him from accountability. Today, most Russian organised crime is arranged directly from the Kremlin. In fact, Putin leads just like a mafia don. For him, it is much better to cultivate power than friends. He keeps his distance and only builds

relationships that fit his purpose. The Kremlin runs on a culture of fear. Many government institutions are run by Putin’s ex KGB contacts, men with the same mindset as Putin, prepared to use brutality and intimidation to get results. Russian analyst, Stanislav Belkovsky who advised the Kremlin in the early 2000s, explained that Putin “dislikes being surrounded by people who feel untouchable because of their personal closeness to him… his allies are also the greatest threats to his rule.” 8

Oligarchs who have made their fortunes on the back of Putin’s patronage have a price to pay, loyalty at any cost. Any threat to Putin’s power is quickly suppressed. For example, the oligarch Boris Berezovsky faithfully supported Putin, using his media network as a propaganda tool to help Putin win the 2000 Presidential elections. However, less than a year later, Berezovsky was forced by the FSB to sell his business to the Russian state and flee Russia. Berezovsky’s crime? His media had criticised Putin for the government’s poor response to the Kursk submarine disaster. Putin saw this as betrayal and punished him, sending a message to other oligarchs that they can make their fortunes but only under Putin’s rules. Autocratic leadership has created a psychopath, surrounded by advisers too scared to challenge or question. Consequently, Putin has developed his own distorted view of the world which in his mind justifies his right to act without consequence. According to his inflated ego, he and Russia are one and any threat or opposition to him is unpatriotic. For Putin, the fall of the Soviet Union was a “tragedy. Millions of … Russian citizens …found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory.”9 He refused to believe that neighbouring countries were desperate to become independent of Russia, free of communism. In July 2021 Putin published an essay (“On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians”), arguing that Russians and Ukrainians are one people with the same culture, faith and language, and that there is no historical basis for a separate Ukrainian nation. This manipulated version of Russian history was used to justify his psychopathic

7 Noble, B, Dollbaum, J.M. and Lallouet, M. - 2021. Alexei Navalny: thousands defy state crackdown to support jailed Russian opposition leader - The Conversation -https://theconversation.com/alexei-navalny-thousands-defy-state-crackdown-to-support-jailed-russian-opposition-leader-159456. 8 Stanislav Belkovsky – interview with Die Welt 21 December 2007 9 Vladimir Putin - “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians” first published 12 July 2021

invasion of Ukraine months later, defending and rebuilding a powerful “Mother Russia”. Psychopaths have a controlling nature and Putin is the perfect example. Putin has been ruthless in his actions taken to consolidate power solely in his own hands. In the 2000 presidential election, Putin won 53% of votes. However, the Moscow Times discovered that “fraud and abuse of power …. have been decisive.”10 Vote counts were falsified. Putin had used fraud to win power but still the election result was extremely close. Putin learnt a valuable lesson, that democracy and elections must be suppressed. In the 2018 elections, Putin won 76% of the vote whilst his biggest opponents were prevented from running at all. A recent example of Putin’s obsession to preserve power is that in 2021, he passed a law that extended his time as President by another two terms, allowing him to remain in power until 2036 at the expense of democracy in Russia. This law also gave him lifetime immunity from prosecution. Putin controls the Russian legal system. As President, he took over control of the courts in Russia in 2013, abolishing the highest commercial court and giving him the right of appointing and firing prosecutors. Steven Lee Myers, a journalist of the New York Times, described Russia as “a country where suspects can be detained indefinitely, where arbitrary, politically and even economically motivated prosecutions are common.”11 The ability to ruthlessly use this tool of blind prosecution to imprison businessmen and political opponents who fall foul of the Kremlin, such as Alexei Navalny, indefinitely for challenging Putin’s rule, has helped to create a megalomaniac. In addition, in 2017, Putin consolidated Russia’s security agencies, including the FSB, into one super-agency, the Ministry of State Security. He gave himself sole control over this agency’s powers including domestic and foreign intelligence, border controls and hacking. Putin also took control of the Russian military from the moment he played a major role in the second Chechen war.

communication, Putin controls the story and more importantly the Russian people. He manipulates language using doublespeak, deliberately obscuring the truth. When Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian media spread lies that it was not an act of war but “peacekeeping”, that his troops were “denazifying” a country (even though it was led by a Jewish president), to gain power and avoid any public backlash. Putin has silenced critics by fear, introducing extreme laws in 2022, criminalising independent war reporting and protests with punishments of up to 15 years imprisonment. To conclude, Putin has been corrupted mentally and physically by absolute power, influenced by the merciless tactics of a terrorist force, the KGB, and its extreme patriotism. Power has become so intoxicating for Putin over the 23 years of his leadership, as he has learnt by experience the benefits of using ruthlessness and brutality, manipulation, deception, and murder to become ever more powerful. The Ukraine war has already cost the lives of many thousands of innocent people. However, Putin’s narcissism and arrogance have stopped him from admitting any weakness. His psychopathic desire for power whatever the cost has led to him using heavy propaganda in Russia to present the perfect strong man image as well as to conceal his failures and crimes and perpetrate lies about his enemies. However, in a modern world, power is precarious. It is almost impossible to stop the spread of the truth via social media into Russia and so Putin’s absolute control is being tested. The attempted Wagner coup in June 2023 has created a significant crack in Putin’s armour, showing his vulnerability and susceptibility to challenge. For a psychopath who has built a hierarchy of power which relies on and revolves around him, this time his usual weapons of fear, manipulation and corruption may not be enough to stop it from crashing down.

Putin took mainstream Russian media under state ownership, crushing any rights for free speech and creating his own propaganda weapon. By controlling 10 Peterson, S. Weir, F – “Russians shrug off stolen votes” 2000 - Christian Science Monitor -https://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0918/p6s1.html 11 Steven Lee Myers – “Russia glances to the West for its new legal code” – The New York Times, 1 July 2002

Why Do West Africans and Their Descendants Dominate Powerbased Sports? Ethan Seshie

SE CON D P R IZE

Usain Bolt. Mo Farah. Mike Tyson. Muhammad Ali. These are famous sportsmen, household names. And they all have something in common. Of course, they are all accomplished athletes who dominated their respective sports. But the first thing that some people may notice is the fact that they are all black. But does that matter? Does race make people better or worse at sports, and if so, are there any particular ones? The question of whether race influences physical power, traits and abilities is a long-debated one, with roots in racism and slavery. The most discussed of these is the question: ‘Are Black people genetically more powerful than other races? Can they run faster, jump higher, lift more, because of their race? There have been numerous studies, debates and conversations about this notion of so called ‘black athletic superiority’. Some people would argue that it is a racist stereotype, and the dominance of Black people in sports can be attributed to coincidence and external factors, such as socio-economic ones, while some would argue wholeheartedly that race and the genetics of particular races are key attributes in athletic capability. In this essay, I will be evaluating the impact of race on specifically power-based sports, and whether being black has an impact on athletic ability or achievement. One of the main things people reference is ‘black genetics.’ This could, to a certain extent, be a reasonable concept. An example of Black people having a genetic advantage in power-based sports is in the distribution of the alleles of the ACTN3 gene. Known as the power gene, ACTN3 encodes a protein called alpha-actinin-3 which expresses itself in fasttwitch muscle fibres – the type used in explosive sports such as running. The gene has two alleles. The R allele allows you to produce a large amount of power, the X allele less so. As a result, the RR genotype is the best for power sports such as running and the XX genotype would be the worst. People with at least one R allele are found to have greater levels of muscle mass and produce more testosterone than those without while the X allele and genotype is associated with greater levels of muscle damage following eccentric muscle actions. Race comes into

this when one considers the distribution of each of these genotypes. According to studies, 25% of Asians, 18% of Caucasians, 11% of Ethiopians, 3% of Jamaican and African Americans, and 1% of Kenyans and West Africans possess the XX genotype.1 This means that genetically, African Americans, Jamaicans, and West Africans are more likely to have a genotype which gives them more muscle mass, more type II muscle fibres and less muscle damage after explosive muscle movements. Naturally, this is an enormous advantage in power sports, as the high concentration of fasttwitch muscle fibres would allow one to move faster, and produce more frequent bursts of power, due to the quicker muscle recovery. Another genetic factor when it comes to power sports is myostatin. Myostatin is a protein which stops your muscles from growing too large, produced by the gene MSTN. Many people, especially bodybuilders, view it as an enemy to muscle growth. Studies on mice have shown that myostatin mutations can lead to higher muscle mass.2 A higher percentage of Sub-Saharan Africans compared to non-Africans have myostatin mutations which means that they have less limits on muscle growth and development.3 This could explain the dominance of Black competitors in bodybuilding, where out of all 22 of the Mr. Olympia competitions held since and including 2000, 16 of them have been won by African Americans or Jamaicans. This excess muscle mass could also prove an advantage in boxing and other combat sports, where having more weight behind your punches allows for more powerful blows. The myostatin mutations would mean that putting on muscle, which is known to be denser than fat, would be easier than for the regular person, and as a result be a more viable way of weight gain before a fight. This could, to some extent, help explain the success of Black fighters such as Anthony Joshua, Francis Ngannou, Mike Tyson and others. The fourth genetic advantage Black people have in power-based sports is androgen receptors. They regulate the actions of androgens like testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. The higher your androgen receptor sensitivity, the more effective these androgens will be, leading to

1 Craig Pickering and John Kiely, “ACTN3: More than Just a Gene for Speed,” Frontiers, December 18, 2017, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2017.01080/full. 2 H. Amthor et al., “Lack of Myostatin Results in Excessive Muscle Growth but Impaired Force Generation,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104, no. 6 (January 31, 2007): 1835–40, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0604893104.

more muscle growth. On average, Black people have higher androgen receptor sensitivity, which leads to higher circulation of testosterone (a natural steroid) from birth. This high androgen receptor sensitivity is also a reason for the high prostate cancer rates in black men – around one in four Black men get prostate cancer in their lifetime.4 Finally, it is a wellknown fact that Africa is by far the most genetically diverse continent, and this could account for the large number of genetic mutations which give Africans and other Black people what could be considered a genetic advantage over other races. Another reason people cite for Black peoples’ supposed dominance in power sports is socioeconomic circumstances and environment, especially in the United States of America. An example of this is in the sports that have the highest Black players. In the NBA, approximately 70% of players are Black. In the NFL, this is 56%, and the out of the last ten Olympic 100m gold medallists, nine have been black. This is opposed to only 0.9% of Swim England swimmers5, 6.2% of MLB baseball players according to the official website6, and 3.74% of NHL employees according to its own data. Away from sports, only 2.3% of employer firms in the USA are owned by Black people7, and only five companies on the Fortune 500 list are owned by an African American. This lack of mainstream representation for Black people outside of power sports is likely to lead to a lack of participation or interest in sports or career paths other than power sports, and an increased number of participants in these sports. Naturally, the more Black people participate in these sports, the more Black people are likely to succeed, even were their success rate in these sports the same as those of other races. However, representation cannot be the only reason for Black people’s continued dominance in sprinting, basketball, boxing and American football. These are all sports which do not require a lot of expensive equipment to start playing at a non-professional level, or in the case of American football, have equipment provided for you. For example, running shoes for the average person would only cost £40-70, which is all one would need to get into sprinting. An average Wilson size 7 basketball (NBA standard) wouldn’t cost more than £30. So, if one includes sturdy running

shoes, as mentioned before, to get into basketball without any specialist equipment it would cost maybe £100. Another benefit of power sports over sports such as swimming, tennis and golf is that they can be played almost anywhere. American football can be played in almost any open field, there are numerous public basketball courts across the world in which you can just start a pick-up game free of charge, and it is possible to practice sprinting almost anywhere. The majority of power sports do not require a lot of equipment or specialised facilities to get started. It is not necessary to buy a large amount of equipment, and neither would it be required for one to pay to be able to access an area to practice, like you do to get into a swimming pool, tennis court, or golf course. As a result, the low entry cost of power sports compared to other sports would make it easier for Black people, the poorest ethnic group on average, to get into and participate in these sports as opposed to sports like tennis, hockey, fencing, and badminton.8 It is likely that the contrasting mentalities about sports between the races also contributes to the dominance of Black athletes in power sports. Due to the aforementioned lack of Black representation in a corporate setting, many Black youths are of the opinion that they have to be an athlete to be able to ‘make it out’ or be successful. Black adolescents growing up in poverty seeing people who look like them signing multi-million dollar deals in sports and not business are more likely to believe that they can do the same9. In conclusion, there are a number of reasons, both biological and social, why West Africans and their descendants, Jamaicans and African Americans, dominate power-based sports. Both of these factors are extremely important when it comes to the advantage those of West African lineage have in power sports. However, I would like to propose that genetic factors are the most important in the continued achievements of Black people in power sports like boxing, sprinting and basketball. The genetics of West Africans and their descendants give them an advantage in so many different ways, from their high sickle cell rates due to malaria giving them a higher percentage of anaerobically respiring fasttwitch muscle fibres to their longer limbs and shorter

3 Matthew A. Saunders et al., “Human Adaptive Evolution at Myostatin (GDF8), a Regulator of Muscle Growth,” American Journal of Human Genetics 79, no. 6 (December 1, 2006): 1089–97, https://doi.org/10.1086/509707. 4 C A Pettaway, “Racial Differences in the Androgen/Androgen Receptor Pathway in Prostate Cancer,” Journal of the National Medical Association 91, no. 12 (1999): 653–60, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2608588/. 5 Alan Baldwin, “Swimming-Black Swimmers Still Under-Represented in the Pool,” Reuters, July 15, 2021, sec. Sports, https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/swimming-black-swimmers-still-under-represented-pool-2021-07-15/. 6 Anthony Castrovince, “Overall MLB Diversity Up; Effort to Increase Black Participation Continues,” MLB.com, April 14, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/news/diversity-in-mlb-expanding-in-2023. 7 AllBusiness, “Reports Show Black Small Businesses Still Face Major Challenges,” Forbes, February 20, 2023, https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2023/02/20/reports-show-black-small-businesses-still-face-major-challenges/. 8 Margaret Simms, Karina Fortuny, and Everett Henderson, “RACIAL and ETHNIC DISPARITIES among LOW-INCOME FAMILIES” (The Urban Institute, 2009), https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/32976/411936-racial-and-ethnic-disparities-among-low-income-families.pdf. 9 Mark Asher, “STUDY: EXPECTATIONS up for BLACK TEEN ATHLETES,” Washington Post, November 8, 1993, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1993/11/08/study-expectations-up-for-black-teen-athletes/124efd6d-5875-451d-98b4db2835f17273/.

torsos making them better at sprinting. However, it is important to note that the genetic traits discussed in this essay can be and are present in people of any and all races, but their frequency in those of West African descent which makes them stand out and could be counted as a ‘genetic advantage.

Bibliography

AllBusiness. “Reports Show Black Small Businesses Still Face Major Challenges.” Forbes, February 20, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ allbusiness/2023/02/20/reports-show-black-smallbusinesses-still-face-major-challenges/. Amthor, H., R. Macharia, R. Navarrete, M. Schuelke, S. C. Brown, A. Otto, T. Voit, et al. “Lack of Myostatin Results in Excessive Muscle Growth but Impaired Force Generation.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104, no. 6 (January 31, 2007): 1835–40. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0604893104. Asher, Mark. “STUDY: EXPECTATIONS up for BLACK TEEN ATHLETES.” Washington Post, November 8, 1993. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ sports/1993/11/08/study-expectations-up-for-black-teenathletes/124efd6d-5875-451d-98b4-db2835f17273/. Baldwin, Alan. “Swimming-Black Swimmers Still UnderRepresented in the Pool.” Reuters, July 15, 2021, sec. Sports. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/ swimming-black-swimmers-still-under-representedpool-2021-07-15/. Castrovince, Anthony. “Overall MLB Diversity Up; Effort to Increase Black Participation Continues.” MLB.com, April 14, 2023. https://www.mlb.com/news/diversity-inmlb-expanding-in-2023. Pettaway, C A. “Racial Differences in the Androgen/ Androgen Receptor Pathway in Prostate Cancer.” Journal of the National Medical Association 91, no. 12 (1999): 653–60. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC2608588/. Pickering, Craig, and John Kiely. “ACTN3: More than Just a Gene for Speed.” Frontiers, December 18, 2017. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ fphys.2017.01080/full. Saunders, Matthew A., Jeffrey M. Good, Elizabeth C. Lawrence, Robert E. Ferrell, Wen-Hsiung Li, and Michael W. Nachman. “Human Adaptive Evolution at Myostatin (GDF8), a Regulator of Muscle Growth.” American Journal of Human Genetics 79, no. 6 (December 1, 2006): 1089–97. https://doi. org/10.1086/509707. Simms, Margaret, Karina Fortuny, and Everett Henderson. “RACIAL and ETHNIC DISPARITIES among LOW-INCOME FAMILIES.” The Urban Institute, 2009. https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/ publication/32976/411936-racial-and-ethnic-disparitiesamong-low-income-families.pdf.

How did the post-war and wartime periods secure the USA as a geopolitical superpower? Liam Byrne

The United States of America is a nation that supposedly stands for liberty, peace and equality, the epitome of prosperous Western ideology and achievement. Is it perhaps ironic, then, that the characteristics that allowed it to surpass so many others were born in a time of conflict and struggle, the antithesis of its modern constitution? People have mixed views on the USA’s role as a belligerent protector of “freedom” and “democracy”, especially when it comes to it turning a blind eye on its various atrocities abroad, and maybe even at home. But how did it come to this? Why is the US seen as the caretaker of the modern world? I want to lay out various points detailing how change in economic and military attitude resulted in not only its huge increase in wealth, but its feared reputation as a capable armed force. Economic changes A successful economy is the foundation for a successful country. Funnily enough, the USA was almost too successful for the period prior to the Great Depression. With overspeculation in the new stock market causing huge rises in prices, people, especially more experienced investors, began to lose confidence and withdraw their shares. More and more people followed this trend of taking out money, fearing they would lose much of their original investment. This, inevitably, led to a disaster on the economic front, and the government’s ignorance towards the whole situation made it grow out of control. It was a catastrophe, not just to the US, but to other countries that relied on US loans to fund their own investments. But to understand what lifted the States out of this hole, it is important to understand a key economic principle that revolutionised the way that the government interacted with the state’s economy. It is called Keynesianism, and while its policies might sound obvious, to a government that typically invoked a laissez-faire (literally leave to do) policy when it came to dealing with economics, it was a reinvention of the wheel. The idea was that the government can increase the demand for goods by altering tax policies and public expenditures1, so, in essence, investing in things that the public use often, like infrastructure and

JOINT THIR D PR IZE

services. Governments, under this new policy, were also able to provide economic relief and check up on labour relations to promote growth of businesses and firms. The first major use of this new idea was in the New Deal package under Roosevelt and incorporated all the objectives I mentioned earlier, marking a change from the “let it do its thing” free market system to the “let’s get involved” Keynesian system. Despite many of these changes occurring before the Second World War, the system continues to prove effective in maintaining the ruggedness and reliability of the American economy up to the modern day. “The first and most imperative necessity in war is money, for money means everything else – men, guns, ammunition” - Ida Tarbell America knew this. In fact, every nation knew this; the winners of wars were the ones able to provide more resources to the conflict. Therefore, war almost always has an adverse effect on a country’s economy as they desperately try to expend as much of their available budget as can be allowed on war industry and machines, leaving them with little in the bleak few postwar years. But during and following Second World War, the USA was an anomaly to this trend; American gross national product had increased by 35% from 1941 to 19482. How was it that while Europe had lost countless physical assets and the East suffered under communist oppression, America prospered? The American effort to mobilise was substantial, especially given the elevated prominence of the federal government in monitoring and aiding economic progress. Conversion, the transfer of companies from building civilian goods to military products, was carried out on an immense scale, and thoroughly checked by mobilisation agencies, to make sure that these companies kept on producing goods for the army and navy. The number of people required to pay federal taxes greatly increased, with $45 billion taken in in 1945 compared to $8.7 billion in 1941. The Office of Price Administration held down prices successfully throughout the war, and wages rose 65% over its course. With not many consumer goods available,

1 The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, “Keynesian Economics | Definition & Facts,” in Encyclopædia Britannica, January 3, 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Keynesian-economics. 2 Hugh Brogan, The Penguin History of the United States of America (London ; New York: Penguin Books, 2001).

people put money into savings and at the war’s end, as production returned to peacetime goods, the masses had money to buy them. Unemployment rates were at an all-time low, with just 1.2% unemployed in the civilian labour force, perhaps persuaded by war propaganda and the stereotypical American “can-do” attitude. Industry that had been previously remote or non-existent was opened by the rapid militarisation, and the creation of a military-industrial complex not only provided hugely for the economy, but, along with the Cold War, imprinted a constant military readiness on the civilians and government of the nation. The whole world was in awe of the sudden American prosperity, with the clichéd “American Way of Life” assured by every Coca-Cola bottle sold3 and every Ford driven. Magazine publisher Henry Luce called of the beginning of the “American century” before the war had even ended4. The Cold War But America’s global influence had only just begun to take hold. One event spanning from after the Second World War to the early 1990s would cement its position as the world superpower, and it was named the Cold War. To understand how this event really propelled the USA to military dominance, I must first explain to you how it started. At the end of World War II, America, a country particularly well-known for its distinct capitalist attitude, faced a power of considerable strength with a very different ideology. The USSR and the USA both shared something in common, however; their distaste for each other. Fear of a third World War was overwhelming as both countries built up large nuclear arsenals and spent considerable amounts on defence. Despite this lavish spending, the only real fighting occurred in “proxy” states, where civil wars between communist and capitalist-backed parties ensued, such as in Korea and Vietnam. And tensions remained high for some time. The speed of military advancement was like that of active wartime

periods, with huge breakthroughs being made in missile and jet technology. A phrase from The Penguin History of the USA sums this up perfectly; “prospects for agreed disarmament always lagged behind the latest devices”. In Europe, a compromise could not be reached regarding the partition of Germany, with the Soviets demanding severe subjugation and reparations of the nation (the USSR had lost 27 million men throughout the course of the war), but the West, remembering the Treaty of Versailles, could not accept their demands. As Churchill put it; “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent”. The US could now expand their global influence without anyone batting an eye. A predominantly conscript army was maintained abroad, such as in South Korea, West Germany and Japan. Naval fleets and the air force patrolled the sea and skies. Large desert areas of the southern states that would otherwise be left to rot were set aside for weapons testing. After defence, other industries followed, and California, the head of this new movement, having good land and oil, began to grow not just economically but population-wise too. The other areas of the South that received this sudden military attention grew rapidly and collectively became known as the “Sun Belt”. The American economy began to grow further with this new constant militaristic mindset, and the “patriotism” (influenced mainly by the rich rain of dollars they were receiving) of the southern states ensured that defence spending remained consistent. And unlike the USSR, the USA didn’t ultimately collapse in 1991, a ruined state ravaged by the oppression of communism, its economy in a shambles. America had learnt from the pseudo-militaristic period and continued to exert its grip on the rest of the world. “The Cold War is over, but Cold War thinking survives”; a simple quote from Joseph Rotblat which almost entirely explains the US’ current approach to warfare. Now, the States spends roughly 6-7% per year of its total gross domestic product on defence, around $801 billion5, despite not being engaged in active warfare. A

3 Hugh Brogan, The Penguin History of the United States of America (London ; New York: Penguin Books, 2001). 4 Hugh Brogan, The Penguin History of the United States of America (London ; New York: Penguin Books, 2001). 5 “US Government Defense Spending History with Charts - a Www.usgovernmentspending.com Briefing,” www.usgovernmentspending.com, accessed June 20, 2023, https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/defense_spending history#:~:text=Defense%20spending%20in%20the%201920s.

constant alertness and display of military force was the tried and tested method of avoiding and, if necessary, winning a conflict. American influence has spread to almost all corners of the globe, through passive means, or more aggressive ones. Culturally, it is considered by many invasive and bland, a liberalist society trying its best to please a selective demographic, typically for its own gain. Perhaps this is why many have grown to resent the USA, everything it does seemingly rooted in selfpreservation and an overarching “American spirit”. But it is not through idleness and inactivity that America has achieved its position as a global superpower. A shift in economic policy, a colossal military expansion and an outreach worldwide has allowed it to dominate the global stage; English has become an international auxiliary language and the dollar is the go-to currency for trade and wealth measurement. We can see America in the food we eat, the cars we drive and the adverts we see on our screens. Its military is still the best in the world by a considerable margin. By no means is the USA a perfect country; we can see this presented by the constant outbreaks of gun violence in schools and other public places across the country and the lack of free healthcare, a basic right, at least among the minds of Europeans and other parts of the world. But America has found a way to thrive while others have struggled, and for that it must be somewhat admired.

Bibliography

Brogan, Hugh. The Penguin History of the United States of America. London ; New York: Penguin Books, 2001. Gordon, Colin. “New Deal | Encyclopedia of American Studies - Credo Reference.” search.credoreference. com, n.d. https://search.credoreference.com/content/ entry/jhueas/new_deal/0. Tassava, Christopher. “The American Economy during World War II.” Eh.net, February 10, 2008. https://eh.net/ encyclopedia/the-american-economy-during-world-warii/. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Keynesian Economics | Definition & Facts.” In Encyclopædia Britannica, January 3, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/ topic/Keynesian-economics. www.usgovernmentspending.com. “US Government Defense Spending History with Charts - a Www. usgovernmentspending.com Briefing.” Accessed June 20, 2023. https://www.usgovernmentspending. com/defense_spending_history#:~:text=Defense%20 spending%20in%20the%201920s.

Did the French Revolution shift power to a worse evil?

Edward Chesser

HIG HLY COMM E ND E D

The year 1789 saw the beginning of one of the most dramatic events in the history of France – the French Revolution. The conflict was supposed to see the end of the French monarchy and the beginning of the peoples’ rights, it is remembered today as a violent, cruel period which saw mass executions and near constant suffering1. The common people of France were tired of starving and barely surviving while the nobility and kings lived high lives, but what started as the supposed shift of power to the general population instead turned into the reign of terror, which can be looked at as a worse time than that of the monarchy. This event can be compared to the English Civil War (a little over a century earlier) and the Russian Revolution (a little over a century later) in which monarchs were deposed and executed in the name of liberty and equality but instead left their countries worse off than when they started. The French Revolution occurred due to the actions of the monarchs and because of new beliefs. King Louis XVI (b. 1754 – 1793)2 was ruling the country with absolute power, and while he, his much-disliked wife among the people, Marie Antoinette, and the nobility enjoyed parties and rich foods and locations, the rest of the population starved and lived in crippling poverty. There was already unrest with the common people of France, but what made it worse was the king’s decision to fund the Americans in their Revolution against the English. The Americans didn’t repay the king, and so the country’s economy dropped, and the crown looked for new finances through extreme taxes like window tax were put in place against the people. There was a shortage of bread, and so the price went up for the little there was left, but the people couldn’t pay for it due to the large sums of money they paid to the king. Not only did the American Revolution fuel the ideas of revolution in France over the money, but it also inspired people with the idea of a successful revolution to live without a king. Though the monarchy under Louis XIV (b. 1638 – 1715) had been popular, his descendant King Louis XVI proved not to be as successful. Much like Charles I at the beginning of the English Civil War, Louis was a believer in the divine

right of kings (the idea that the king was chosen by God) but this was not a good image for him, and due to the Age of Enlightenment, many French people were introduced to new philosophical and intellectual ideas which would allow people to question the monarchy3. Louis would always prove to be a weak king, with little authority and poor decision making, but the regime which replaced him was vastly worse. Louis was a bad king, but he wasn’t tyrannical like the dictators who would follow. A final cause for the French Revolution came with the Estates-General4. The Estates-General were assemblies of the three estates of France. The first estate was the clergy, which represented 0.5% of the population; the second estate was the nobility, which represented about 2% of the population; and the third estate was made up of the commoners, which represented the rest of the population of France, and despite such a massive difference in quantity, each of the estates only held one vote each. Louis called the Estates-General for the first time in one-hundredand-seventy-five years, in order to solve issues over France’s economic issues. However, following the proceedings, the third estate broke off to form the National Assembly after all of their choices were outvoted by those of the clergy and the nobility. Despite his poor handling of the situation, Louis XVI can be seen trying to solve the issues in France at this time through peaceful means, and it shows his attempts to find a solution through a meeting of one of the most common assemblies in French history. The men that followed like Maximilien Robespierre and the Assembly would never rule through reason and fairness, but instead by using force and fear. The National Assembly threatened to continue without the other two estates and so the king convinced the clergy and the nobility to join, in order for it to become the National Constituent Assembly. However, as rumours of a royal conspiracy began to surface, the Great Fear of July 1789 began, with paranoia mounting within the commoners. Louis’ dismissal of his popular finance manager, Jacques Necker, provoked

1 Doyle, William. The French Revolution : A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. 2 Popkin , Jeremy. “Britannica School.” school.eb.co.uk, n.d. https://school.eb.co.uk/levels/advanced/article/Louis-XVI/49069. 3 www.studentsofhistory.com. “Causes of the French Revolution,” 2023. https://www.studentsofhistory.com/causes-of-the-french-revolution#:~:text=The%20causes%20of%20the%20French. 4 www.studentsofhistory.com. “The Estate System in France,” n.d. https://www.studentsofhistory.com/the-estate-system-in-france#:~:text=Only%20about%200.5%25%20of%20the.

the storming of the Bastille, in which hundreds of French citizens seized the Bastille Prison, a symbol of royal power and tyranny as well as a large store of weaponry. The governor of the Bastille was murdered, and his head was put on a pike. This famous event was followed by the National Constituent Assembly decreeing the abolition of the feudal regime and also the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. When the king vetoed these, the people rose once again, marching on Versailles and taking Louis and his family back to Paris where the Assembly could continue their work on a new constitution. The new regime continued with their reforms while the French nobility began to flee to foreign monarchies. The National Constituent Assembly kept Louis as a constitutional figurehead, but fearing for his life, he and the royal family tried to escape the country in 1791. However, he was captured, and brought back to Paris where his little support was now crushed as many saw him as a traitor trying to abandon the people. The other kings of Europe feared what the French Revolution had entailed, with its ideas of freedom and liberty for the people and thoughts of the abolition of the monarchy. So, in 1792, France declared war on Austria, starting the War of the First Coalition. Austria’s ally, Prussia, joined the war, and soon the French were fighting both countries and in the first year of the war, a new assembly met – the National Convention. After the first day, the National Convention abolished the monarchy, making King Louis XVI merely Louis Capet, and established the First French Republic (the first of five so far in French history). The National Convention was split, mostly between the Girondins and the Montagnards (Mountain Men) and on the 21st January 1793, after a trial and condemnation by the Convention, Louis, “the Citizen King”, was executed via the guillotine with his wife following him nine months later. This decision had been opposed by the Girondins, but the Montagnards, with Maximilien Robespierre leading them, were in favour of the death of the king as they believed him to be a threat to the Revolution. Like King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Tsar

Nicholas II of Russia, King Louis XVI of France lost his life in a regicidal war. They were followed by Oliver Cromwell, Vladimir Lenin, and Maximilien Robespierre respectively, but all can be seen as more benign than their successors, as the dictators who ruled would show themselves to be cruel and tyrannical. Maximilien-François-Marie-Isidore de Robespierre (b. 1758 – 1794)5 was a lawyer, judge, politician, leader of the radical Jacobins political club, and later one of the key figures in the French Revolution. Following defeats to Austria, Great Britain and Prussia in the War of the First Coalition, the leaders of the Girondins were driven out and the Montagnards took power. With enemies surrounding them as the War of the First Coalition went on and with counterrevolutions popping up around the country, the Revolutionary government declared they would rule through fear, officially starting their Reign of Terror6 on 5th September 1793. The Reign of Terror lasted until 27th July 1794, and during its length, around 1,400 people were executed for anti-revolutionary thoughts, which could have been for small comments or beliefs. The Reign of Terror came to an end following victories by the French in the war as many saw the restrictions set by the government as pointless, and after the end of the Terror, Robespierre was executed by the guillotine himself. Maximilien Robespierre and the National Convention can definitely be seen as a deterioration from the monarchy under Louis. Before they were known as the Convention, those who followed Louis had mass killings during the September Massacres in 1792 when they had over a thousand people executed in prison as they were worried about conspiracies against the Revolution. Throughout the Terror, they were cruel and paranoid, executing hundreds out of fear of counterrevolutions. The Reign of Terror was a worse situation for France. With the Reign of Terror finished, power was given to the Directory, which was quickly abolished following a coup d’état by Napoleon Bonaparte (b. 1769 – 1821)7 in 1799. Napoleon was born in Corsica, but

5 Bouloiseau, Marc. “Britannica School.” school.eb.co.uk. Accessed July 10, 2023. https://school.eb.co.uk/levels/advanced/article/Maximilien-Robespierre/63905. 6 school.eb.co.uk. “Britannica School.” Accessed July 6, 2023. https://school.eb.co.uk/levels/advanced/article/Reign-of-Terror/71796. 7 Godechot, Jacques. “Britannica School.” school.eb.co.uk. Accessed July 12, 2023. https://school.eb.co.uk/levels/advanced/article/Napoleon-I/108752.

moved to Paris where he began his military career. When the French Revolution broke out, Napoleon fought for the Revolutionaries, putting down a British counterrevolution in his first victory at the Siege of Toulon and later he dealt with a pro-monarchy riot in Paris. The War of the First Coalition still went on, but France decided to launch a three-pronged attack on Austria, with Napoleon commanding the southernmost army. Though the other two armies saw failure, Napoleon marched through Italy, winning multiple battles, and eventually reaching Austria, where he oversaw the signing of a peace treaty in 1797. Though Austria was out of the war, Great Britain fought on, and so Napoleon invaded the British colony of Egypt. British victories and the destruction of Napoleon’s fleet at the Battle of the Nile forced him to return to France, but the general used his fame and popularity to overthrow the Directory. When Napoleon abolished the Directory and ended the French Revolution, he replaced it with the Consulate, consisting of three “consuls” with himself as “First Consul”. In 1804, Napoleon would officially proclaim himself “Emperor of the French”, ending the First French Republic and beginning the First French Empire. This return of the monarchy reflects the Restoration in England when King Charles II was named king. Napoleon was emperor, and his reign would plunge France into unending warfare. His military expansions would cost France’s economy severely and leave the people starving, and he would be overthrown twice by the end of 1815, following the Battle of Waterloo and the War of the Seventh Coalition. The shift of power from the monarchy to National Convention gave more tyrannical and evil people power over France. Though the Revolution stood for “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”, there was little freedom during the rule of the First Republic and people were left in fear. There were scenes of violence where hundreds of people were murdered, and beheadings occurred on a regular basis. Maximilien Robespierre and the Reign of Terror were not an improvement on Louis XVI and the monarchy as they were supposed to

be – people were still starving, there was still division and unrest, and on top of that the dictatorship left hundreds of bodies trailing behind its legacy. Although Louis’ reign can be seen as weak and inept, with little decisiveness and a failure to give equality and rights to the people, the regimes that followed limited the little rights the people already had, creating social and economic restrictions that resulted in pain and suffering. Bibliography

Doyle, William. The French Revolution : A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Popkin , Jeremy. “Britannica School.” school.eb.co.uk, n.d. https://school.eb.co.uk/levels/advanced/article/ Louis-XVI/49069. www.studentsofhistory.com. “Causes of the French Revolution,” 2023. https://www.studentsofhistory. com/causes-of-the-french-revolution#:~:text=The%20 causes%20of%20the%20French. www.studentsofhistory.com. “The Estate System in France,” n.d. https://www.studentsofhistory.com/theestate-system-in-france#:~:text=Only%20about%20 0.5%25%20of%20the. Bouloiseau, Marc. “Britannica School.” school.eb.co.uk. Accessed July 10, 2023. https://school.eb.co.uk/levels/ advanced/article/Maximilien-Robespierre/63905. school.eb.co.uk. “Britannica School.” Accessed July 6, 2023. https://school.eb.co.uk/levels/advanced/article/ Reign-of-Terror/71796. Godechot, Jacques. “Britannica School.” school.eb.co. uk. Accessed July 12, 2023. https://school.eb.co.uk/ levels/advanced/article/Napoleon-I/108752.

Democracy: Catalyst to progress and success Rex Wong

HIG HLY COMM E ND E D

The idea of democracy is slowly taking over the world, crowning itself as the most significant and cherished government system around the world. Even though not all countries agree with the system’s morals and ideas, democracy has engraved its name as the most powerful government system ever created. In just the recent 200 to 300 years, democracy has been popularized by countries like United States of America and United Kingdom, it also brought great success to countries trying out this system like Germany, Japan and France. Just in this short period of time, democracy has taken over more than half of the countries in the world, overruling monarchies like the French and arrogant supreme leaders like Hirohito of Japan. By just having the simple aim of preserving and promoting the dignity and fundamental rights of the citizens, achieve social justice and equality, foster the economic and social development of the community, and improve transparency in the country, democracy has already persuaded more than half of the countries in the world into using this system. Democracy, a word originated from Greek, ‘demokratia’, meaning ruled by the people. The idea of democracy started as early as the prehistoric world in Athens and Sparta. This idea of democracy started as people from these tribes or groups would vote on decisions that could affect the entire group. In Sparta, the government was more of an oligarchy, which means that the country was ruled by a small group of people who made all the decisions, than a true democracy. Athens, meanwhile, helped to shape the principles of modern democracy. But Athenian democracy soon declined when Athens fell under foreign rule. After the Romans conquered Greece in 146 b.c., they adapted the Greek democratic model into what is now known as republicanism. 1 But this idea would soon be forgotten by almost all countries and tribes except from a few anomalies like the medieval Iceland establishing the world first parliament which is still running today and medieval England giving people some human rights to speak out to the monarchs. Up until the 18th century, every

country was run by a monarchy or a supreme leader which holds all the power in the country in economic, technology, decision making and more. The first spark of democracy after the medieval world was during the American revolution. When the Americ an revolution ended in 1791, America was the first country to form a democratic government with its first president as George Washington.2 America developed followed the Ancient Greek model of voting, where elections for president, vice president and many other important roles are held every 4 years, so the government gets a better understanding what the citizens want. Swiftly after America, the Kingdom of Norway declared democracy after seeing America’s persuasive success. Countries like Canada, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and more soon joined in within the decade, giving other non democratic countries a glance of its success. In 2000, just more than 200 years after the first democratic country was formed, the number of democratic countries surpassed 50% of the 195 countries in the world.3 To this day, 55-60% of the countries have declared themselves as democratic, having votes and elections every 4-6 years for a president or prime minister. Not only being one of the oldest government systems every created, but democracy also has one of the most convincing ideologies in all government systems ever. With just 4 main points that were mentioned in the first paragraph, preserving, and promoting the dignity and fundamental rights of the citizens, achieve social justice and equality, foster the economic and social development of the community, and improve transparency in the country, building the base for a country’s development and root for its success. Democracy took control over more than half of the world in just merely 200 years. Democracy helps countries building the base for a country’s development and root for its success, bringing joy to most of the countries using that government system. Every person in a democratic country is given an equal status compared to communistic countries,

1 Gale World History Online Collection, “Democracy Document Gale in Context: World History,” go.gale.com, 2022, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/QIYCAE017438715/WHIC?u=warsch&sid=bookmarkWHIC&xid=78994356 2 Gale World History Online Collection, “American Independence and Its Impact on Europe Document Gale in Context : World History,” go.gale.com, 2023, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/UXICZK557247504/WHIC?u=warsch&sid=bookmarkWHIC&xid=ac8d7a67

making the country easier to improve in all ways and categories. Democratic countries allow citizens to be involved in the government system like being a member of the parliament or running for a spot as a may or or even the prime minister or president. A great example is United Kingdom, according to the UK parliament website, citizens can nominate themselves or other citizens that they think are suitable in their constituency to stand in the election for being a MP. By winning in the election with the most votes, you would have a seat in the house of commons of the parliament. You also do not have to be in or follow a certain party because you can go to the parliament as an independent member. As a member of the house of commons, you can help people in your constituency to speak out for their ideas and suggestions to the government in the parliament, you can sign petitions as a MP which makes the petition easier to be noticed by other people, you can be involved in improving or creating laws to make the society more equal and fair.4 Another way of giving and preserving the equal status given to all the people is forming laws for laws, also known as constitution laws. Instead of defining if a person’s action is legal or illegal, constitution laws control the government and mark down boundaries of what the law can make illegal. Examples of constitution laws in the UK include Bill of rights, Parliament Act, Human rights act and much more. These constitution laws preserve the people’s rights like rights to vote, freedom of speech, freedom of action, freedom of religion and other freedoms. A democratic country also separates their power into 3 different branches, executive, legislative, and judiciary each with its own roles and responsibilities. The legislative branch is made u p of the parliament, including the house of commons and house of lords. They are responsible for drafting or improving proposed laws, confirm or reject governmental proposals, and authority to declare war on other countries, they are the law creators. The executive branch includes the prime minister or president, vice president, advisors for president or prime minister and other agencies, departments, boards supporting the president or prime minister.

They are the head of the government, army, and has the most power out of all the branches, they are the law enforcers. The judiciary branch includes all courts in the country, no matter if they are county court, high court, court of appeal or supreme court . They would judge if the arrested person’s action were legal or illegal and give them the correct amount and type of punishment.5 Separating the government’s power into three branches would allow each branch to look over the other branches actions and decisions, giving the people of the country the most advantage and rights they can have. An example of democratic government providing the country with more rights than a communistic government or ruled by a supreme leader is Afghanistan. Before August 2021, United States of America has control over Afghanistan. America changed lots of laws to improve the quality of life and give the people more freedom and rights such as women does not have to cover their body completely and women can have a job instead of staying home all day. Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, women in Afghanistan are forced to cover every body part, more than a hundred thousand people were made job less, and the economy shrunk by 20 to 30 percent percent6, showing how democracy completely overpowers other government systems in all aspect. Aside from giving the people more rights and freedom, a democratic government would also try to benefit the people as much as possible. Every 4 to 5 years, a democratic country would run a general election, picking the best of the best by the people’s votes and nominations. But about a month or two before the election, prime minister or president nominees would come out and have speeches, rallies, or even having interviews on the radio or television to gain the trust from the crowd and all the people in the country. Tension builds up throughout the country as every party would like to have their representative as the head of the country and do what they believe would benefit the society. People might say that tension between parties is bad and would cause riots or arguments, but these tensions would force the political

3 Max Roser, Bastian Herre, and Esteban Ortiz Ospina, “Democracy,” Our World in Data, 2022, https://ourworldindata.org/democracy 4 UK parliament, “ w ww.parliament.uk Home Page,” UK Parliament, 2019, https://www.parliament.uk 5 US Government, “Branches of the U.S. Government ,” Usa.gov, August 5, 2022, https://www.usa.gov/branches of government

leaders to forget their own benefits, but instead focus on all the people in the country and gain their trust. Some political parties would also have their head of party host podcasts or events, allowing everyone to listen and participate with the lucky few being allowed to question or even debate with the head of party. Even though this could go wrong like when John Prescot punched a protester in 2001, these events mostly end in a peaceful mood with the people giving trust to the possible prime minister or president and the head of party knowing what the people wants and develop on their ideas. Having public elections for the main positions in the government would also lead to fewer rash and inconsiderate decisions from the head of parties. Political leaders would be put under pressure during and before any speech or event they are hosting, they would have to go through their scripts and props over and over again so that they do not offend anyone. They would also have to go through lots of public speech training so that they would consider every word that comes out of their mouth before answering a question. Just in January of 2022, US president Joe Biden was having a conference meeting with journalists asking him questions, when a journalist shouted out a question about inflation of America after the meeting ended, Biden cursed to himself without knowing that the microphone is still on and recording7, showing that even the best political leaders would sometimes have words slip out of their mouth and can give them a bad reputation. One of the most recent examples of rash decision is from president Putin of Russia declaring war on Ukraine. Since the start of the war in February of 2022, the war has been proven to be more of a stalemate than Putin’s expectations of a quick defeat. This is because of Putin’s lack of knowledge of his army, and his rash and sudden decision of taking down Ukraine without knowing his army’s strength and the consequences of his actions. To this day, more than 15,000 people died, Russia s gross domestic product (GDP) has dropped by 4-5 percent, and the Ukraine and Russia border has been bombed into shambles. Not only did the war affect Russia and Ukraine, the oil

and gas price in the world has increased by about 40 percent 8. Just because of one irresponsible decision from one political leader, the whole world has been affected. Apart from rights, freedom, and benefits, a democratic government also gives the people a lot of transparency in the government and how it functions. The main reason is that a democratic government usually has nothing to hide from the citizens. The three branches of the government overlook each other’s activities to as sure that it is completely fair and unbiased to either the government or the people. Illegal and dishonest actions such as bribing and threatening other people in side or outside the government con be easily traced because of such high level of transparency. Also, there are agencies and departments within the government that would check every single action a person working in the government make to prevent any illegal activities. These departments can trace every movement from a governor or civil servant from a small bank transfer to a high sum purchase of luxury or houses. The agencies can also check where did the money come from to prevent any bribing or unethical activities from happening. Apart from departments and agencies, media freedom and freedom of information laws allow medias like new spapers, radios, television programs like BBC, CNN, Guardian and more to report what they want freely without being prosecuted or arrested even if the news is about the bad side of the government. There are also laws that protect whistleblowers people who call out the government or civil servants corrupt behavior. Sometimes these whistleblowers even get a prize or award for calling the government out. Even though democracy sounds almost perfect in every aspect, it also has its disadvantages. Slow decision making is the most significant disadvantage, this is due to all the discussions, meetings, and votes before making the fi nal decision. The average time for a national decision to be made in a democratic country is about 3 months, with some decisions taking up to 2 years like United Kingdom’s Brexit. Costly election

6 William Byrd, “One Year Later, Taliban Unable to Reverse Afghanistan’s Economic Decline,” United States Institute of Peace, August 8, 2022, https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/08/one year later taliban unable reverse afghanistans economic decline

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campaigns can also take a toll on a democratic country’s economy as each nominee spend about 10,000 pounds or dollars every 4 to 5 years years.9 These huge and costly campaigns can sometimes take up roads and sidewalks that can cause congestion and other problems to people not involved. Apart from that, there can be a lot of instability during the transition period of presidents or prime ministers especially when there is a change in party. When the government changes in party, the important roles like the head of departments from the old government would be swapped out for others in the party in power. This can create a lot of trouble as the country’s economy is not used to the new system and they new people in place are not used to working with some colleagues and not completely sure what to do in some situations. Democracy is not a recent topic but has been mentioned hundreds or thousands of years ago Originating from the Spartans and Athens in Ancient Greece brought back up before the American Revolution, being popularized by USA, to taking over half of the world; this is not just the result of a very long history, but its powerful core idea and its power to bring development and success to a country. Bibliography

Byrd, William. “One Year Later, Taliban Unable to Reverse Afghanistan’s Economic Decline.” United States Institute of Peace, August 8, 2022. https://www. usip.org/publications/2022/08/one year later taliban unable reverse afghanistans economic decline Gale World History Online Collection. “American Independence and Its Impact on Europe Document Gale in Context: World History.” go.gale.com, 2023. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/UXICZK557247504/ WHIC?u=warsch&sid=bookmarkWHIC&xid=ac8d7a67

Hounslow, London Borough of. “Combined UK Parliamentary General Election and Local By Elections.” www.hounslow.gov.uk. Accessed July 10, 2023. https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20043/ elections_and_voting/ 1885/combined_uk_ parliamentary_general_election_and_local_ byelections/4#:~:text=Candidates%20and%20their%20 agents%20at Inman, Phillip. “Is the Ukraine War Boosting or Damaging the Russian Economy?” The Guardian , April 10, 2023, sec. World news. https://www.theguardian. com/world/2023/apr/10/is the ukraine war boosting or damaging the russian economy Roser, Max, Bastian Herre, and Esteban Ortiz Ospina. “Democracy.” Our World in Data, 2022. https:// ourworldindata.org/democracy Taylor, Steven L. 30 Second Politics . Icon Books Ltd, The Guardian. “Joe Biden Appears to Insult Fox News Reporter over Inflation Question.” January 25, 2022, sec. US news. https://www.theguardian.com/ us news/2022/jan/24/joe biden peter doocy inflation insult Transparency International. “Corruption Perception Index.” Transparency.org, 2021. https://www. transparency.org/en/ UKparliament. “Www.parliament.uk Home Page.” UK Parliament, 2019. https://www.parliament.uk US Government. “Branches of the U.S. Government .” Usa.gov, August 5, 2022. https://www.usa.gov/ branches of government

———. “Democracy Document Gale in Context: World History.” go.gale.com, 2022. https:// link.gale.com/apps/doc/QIYCAE017438715/ WHIC?u=warsch&sid=bookmark WHIC&xid=78994356 7 “Joe Biden Appears to Insult Fox News Reporter over Inflation Question,” The Guardian , January 25, 2022, sec. US news, https://www.theguardian.com/us news/2022/jan/24/joe biden peter doocy inflation insult 8 Phillip Inman, “Is the Ukraine War Boosting or Damaging the Russian Economy?,” The Guardian , April 10, 2023, sec. World news, https://www.t heguardian.com/world/2023/apr/10/is the ukraine war boosting or damaging the russian economy 9 London Borough of Hounslow, “Combined UK Parliamentary General Election and Local By Elections,” www.hounslow.gov.uk, accessed July 10, 2023, https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20043/elections_and_voting/1885/combined _uk_parliamentary_election_and_local_by elections/4#:~:text=Candidates%20and%20their%20agents%20at

How to become a dictator (and keep your power) Edward Cowdry

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Dictatorship is not just a fortuitous outcome, but rather requires specific circumstances and capabilities. In this satirical essay, we will explore the ascent of various dictators to power, aiming to provide insight into how individuals can pursue such a path and establish enduring rule. Navigating this treacherous terrain necessitates a series of carefully calculated moves, yet the rewards, in terms of personal satisfaction, justify the effort involved. Our analysis will delve into Adolf Hitler’s rise to power and the trickery involved in it, Joseph Stalin’s consolidation of authority, and Mao Zedong’s strategies for preserving fame and securing unwavering loyalty through a great cult of personality to the point where we can see lasting effects of that cult of personality in modern day China. Furthermore, we shall glean valuable lessons from the failures of a certain dictator, we shall draw on the lessons of history, exemplified by Julius Caesar, one of the most renowned dictators in history, to emphasize the imperative of garnering support not only from the populace, but also from influential individuals occupying positions of power, as neglecting this aspect can lead to fatal consequences. Adolf Hitler The first condition one will need for one’s inevitable rise to power is a situation that Adolf Hitler took great advantage of: the horrible state his country was in, as they had just come out of the war suffering great humiliation and had to pay many reparations. “We shall squeeze the German lemon until the pips squeak!”1 remarked one British official. This truly shows the desperate situation Germany was in, on the verge of economic collapse and having to pay back debts it simply could not pay back. Hitler took advantage of this to consolidate power. He promised to fix these issues plaguing his great nation. ‘Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception’2 The next strategy he employed is something to which one must pay attention: have a scapegoat. In his situation, he used the Jews to garner support around a unified hatred against someone or something. There are many scapegoats one could use, such as the current government or a outside force on why one’s nation is weak and how one could fix these issues. With all this done, one should have enough support to gain

an important place in the government or even already have power. If there has been no attainment of power, one can finally make a disaster or fake a disaster to consolidate one’s rise to power. In Hitler’s case, he became the Chancellor of Germany, just one step away from the top position. Just as this happened, the Reichstag building (a parliament building for the Germans) was lit on fire. A young Dutch communist was captured and confessed to starting the fire3. This fact is debated however, and some historians believe Hitler and his party was involved in this fire starting.4 This all allowed him to cause a state of emergency in Germany where he got rid of his opposers and gained many more supporters and when President Hindenburg died, he naturally usurped his position and consolidated. With all this, one should be able to at least gain power in his country; the only problem that remains now, is consolidating one’s unquestionable power and forming an unwavering base of support that may even remain after death, allowing one to be remembered as a great for many years to come. Joseph Stalin Now, one has limitless power to draw upon, there needs to be a lack of dissenters and heavy support for the power that one holds. Here is when we learn about the most brutal dictator and how he kept his power and ruled with an iron fist. After Lenin’s death, Stalin was the head of the USSR with two of his fellow Communist Party members5. If there is a situation where there are some leaders who are as powerful as one, then employ Stalin’s technique of degrading and disregarding his competitors. He did this while raising his importance to everyone, this allowed Stalin to have a great grasp on power and he started to banish the most important communist party members like Trotsky who he banished to Mexico. Stalin also made sure to get rid of his competitors even after they had fallen just to make sure nobody could oppose him. This is a great lesson to copy, if you have these same issues, however this is a slow process, and one will also not just have to eliminate any direct threats but also potential threats or anyone who dares go against one’s rule. Stalin committed this action in an event dubbed, the great purge. He started by eliminating major threats for example, an important general. However, it became

very petty and very minor offenses would get you sent to the gulag (Heavy labour) camps in Siberia or having to build railroads in Siberia, worst, or best case scenario in some people’s eyes would to be executed. Stalin had built a fear around his name and only securing the most loyal of people to follow his lead. He then started to even kill his most loyal subjects, lest they tell the people what he had done to many of them. Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you are.6 This is a great idea to follow, however, there is a critique to this strategy which is he got rid of all his skilled generals which lead to many issues at the beginning of World War 2. One should keep skilled subjects, however, keep them under a tight leash, so they don’t dare to rebel against supreme power. With all of this said one hopefully should have supreme power and a way to keep it. We will now contemplate how Mao Zedong gained such a worship from his people even to the point where millions of deaths were on his hands, and he was not blamed at all. Mao Zedong Now, one has power and a secure leadership. There only dwells one step to utter and total domination. A cult of personality, this step will ensure that all will love the ruler of their country. Personality cults glorify the achievements of leaders with lots of propaganda and symbolism to accompany it7, this allows the citizens to worship their leaders as a figure almost beyond human, this is usually found in totalitarian dictatorships. Mao’s cult of personality has great acclaim to it. Mao Zedong first started to develop this cult during the long march to escape the Republic of China’s troops. Over the time of the march, he painted himself on documentations as a great and noble leader under undoubtable manipulation from himself and his party members.8 One should copy this strategy and paint themselves as a great and integral leader to your countries success, one could paint tales of glory from a young age, for example at the age of 10 you were fully fluent in a foreign language, proving that you are almost beyond human. The true goal of these cults is to be remembered and loved forever by all your people. Another strategy to copy from Mao Zedong is his distribution of propaganda to all his people, this

suggestion came from his close party member Lin Biao9. In this ‘Red book’ undoubtably representing his ideologies, contained, many quotes and speeches he has said in the past, presenting these speeches as great words of wisdom. The book became a symbol of loyalty and respect for their great leader. One should copy this as well and distribute many wise quotes and present themselves as so. One should be seen as a great ruler beyond humanity. If this is all done successfully, one now has a secure rule never to be questioned. Finally, it is time to learn from the mistakes of Julius Caesar to make sure you don’t repeat history. Julius Caesar It is time to learn from one of the most notorious dictators ever. Julius Caesar did almost everything correctly, he gained many achievements to boast about, he defeated the one of the most major enemies of Rome at the time, The Gaul’s, he did this after a 7 year campaign full of many meritorious achievements.10 Caesar had also defeated his major political rival in a battle with half the troops of his enemy. This cemented his place as the true ruler of Rome. After this he consolidated his power with the citizens by giving them major benefits and allowing more foreigners to become citizens.11 He had great support of the civilians, however, he made a major mistake, he was extremely disliked by the senate due to his reforms and the straw that broke the camel’s back was when he declared himself ‘Dictator Perpetuo’ (Dictator for life) After this happened the Senate planned to get rid of Caesar lead by Brutus, someone very close to Caesar. On the fateful day of the Ides of March, Caesar was stabbed to death. His power and ambition killed him. The lesson one should draw from this is the fact that you need support from every group of the population. If you antagonise the higher ups and do not give away any benefits, there could be a repeat of how one gained power in the first place, or a few tanks rolling into your beautiful palace garden. Afterall who would want that? Now you have learnt the ways of dictatorship! Congrats my young budding dictator! If you have followed this guide step by step and have avoided your predecessors’ mistakes, you have made it! You

are now a ‘benevolent ruler’ with unlimited power at your fingertips. You are almost like a God and if you want you could replicate a certain Kim Dynasty and have your message and power to last throughout the generations. Immortalised like a God forever. Who wouldn’t want that? Bibliography

Ball, Terence , and Richard Dagger. “Communism Stalinism.” In Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019. https:// www.britannica.com/topic/communism/Stalinism. Boissoneault, Lorraine. “The True Story of the Reichstag Fire and the Nazi Rise to Power.” Smithsonian. Smithsonian.com, February 21, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-storyreichstag-fire-and-nazis-rise-power-180962240/. http://facebook.com/alphahistory. “The Cult of Mao.” Chinese Revolution, July 22, 2018. https://alphahistory. com/chineserevolution/cult-of-mao/. Niccolò Machiavelli. The Prince. 2023. Reprint, Vintage Classics, 2014. Rattini, Kristen Baird. “Julius Caesar—Facts and Information.” Culture, February 20, 2019. https://www. nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/julius-caesar?rn d=1688469722045&loggedin=true. The National WWII Museum. “How Did Adolf Hitler Happen?” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, 2022. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/howdid-adolf-hitler-happen.

How power motivates people in a competitive workplace Luke Gillard-Browne

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People have felt the need for power since primitive tribes of early humans, today we live in a different world but the psychological pressure for recognition and attention remains. The difference is how people behave and what they do to solve this endless need. Scholarly articles, references from books on philosophy and psychology and some scientific research on the brain and thinking are what I will use, to help explain why and what we do. It is an honour in society to help our leaders, and our goal is to be seen as worthy to have the advantages of an alpha. It is why people wear designer and logo name clothes today- for a view from others.1 However, in the workplace, it isn’t as simple. People are treated differently by people of power or the alpha’s and that changes how people behave. Someone’s rise from poverty to power can differ massively from a privileged worker despite the same result. So how? The psychology of this question is as old as humans. Shakespeare’s play Othello is literature that shows this. Othello is a story of a man, Iago, who was overlooked by his general for a promotion, because of this he convinces the general his wife is unfaithful. This causes the general’s jealousy to grow leading him to murder both his wife and him. Shakespeare has proposed the question within his play showing how this problem of power has been with humans for centuries. Othello’s villain, Iago, may be literature’s most impressive master of deception. His understanding of the human psyche is phenomenal.2 Yet he ignores the damage he can do himself when seeking power through revenge. In Othello, Iago’s Machiavellian approach of deception harms others but also himself, he says” Demand me nothing; what you know, you know”.3 Iago says this before his trial for his crimes, but it is Shakespeare showing how his behaviour ends. While it is literature and not a real scenario, the play shows Iago’s approach is flawed, and Shakespeare is warning people that behave the same way this is what will come to them. The character of Iago can be seen in people today, and their actions usually return them to a similar position. The cautionary tale warns the reader of how rejection

can affect people and that decisions are affected by our feelings. When some people are put in situations like these within a workplace, it separates people from those who can take rejection and understand that it is a part of the road to power and those who are enveloped by their feelings and cannot accept it. People in power will have faced failure but the separating factor is that they could accept it while others couldn’t. To understand how power motivated people, you have to look at people at the top. The Nike CEO, Phil Knight, wrote a book called Shoe Dog in which he explains the creation of his company and how he built it. He talks about being on the verge of bankruptcy for eighteen years afraid to make one wrong move. He travelled across the world looking for factories to make his shoes-spending almost all of his budget. He failed to build 26 out of 27 companies through his career and he was never backed by banks due to their risk-averse nature and them never wanting you to outgrow your balance.4 When we look at his behaviour it seems illogical. One bad choice and he would’ve had no budget to rely on and been left with no money to continue, so the question is why did he carry on? The reason we love rankings is because we’re hierarchical animals and there are perks to being higher in the pecking order.5 Phil Knight wants to be at the top because he wants the power of being a major CEO. The leader of the group is expected to take risks, to protect everyone else working for them because they receive the best treatment. He was able to make those decisions not only to better himself, through the result but also to show the people he is working with what he will risk for overall success. This means Phil Knight gains the trust of his employees and he can build a group of people to work with him reliably. Phil Knight didn’t take the risks he did for a chance. He built the same growth mindset in his employees and motivated them to take similar risks to benefit the company. To answer the question of why he carried on taking risks, it was to benefit his team. In early life humans in tribes would fight and work for the tribe and in doing so would benefit the whole group and put themselves

1Sinek, S. (2017). ALSO BY THE AUTHOR Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. [online] Westminster, London, England.: Penguin, pp.77, 277. Available at: https://icrrd.com/media/16-05-2021-042803Leaders-Eat-Last-Simon-Sinek.pdf 2 Shakespeare, W. (1604). Othello Manipulation | Shmoop. [online] www.shmoop.com. Available at: https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/othello/themes/manipulation. 3 ibid 4 Fisk, P. (2018). Phil Knight’s fantastic history of Nike is also a great story of business leadership and economics. [online] Peter Fisk. Available at: https://www.peterfisk.com/2018/08/phil-knights-fantastic-history-of-nike-it-also-a-great-story-of-businessleadership-and-economics/#:~:text=Knight%20reports%20that%20around%20the.

out as a person worthy of power. Phil Knight wants his team to work the same way. He shows the group what he does for them to establish why he is in power, he makes them work in the same way to benefit the whole group and give him more funding to take risks. The result is the whole group benefits from taking risks for each other and the people who work harder get more back. An unavoidable argument against this remains, being why some people work as hard as others but don’t succeed. What was the difference between Phil Knight’s success and another man’s failure? A common answer is that they are more ‘talented’ or there is simply luck involved but that isn’t the main factor. Matthew Syed illustrated the idea of talent by

mentioning a group of table tennis players in the 1980s who were no more talented than others but achieved success due to their favourable situation and access to facilities.6 This situational bias highlights that success is more dependent on circumstances and timing. Research indicates that leaders exhibit stronger frontal brain activity, characterised by stronger frontal alphasuppression. This means they invest more resources in prospective planning and control, sub-consciously.7 Motivated by power, successful leaders are better equipped to navigate risks and learn from their mistakes. Hardship can also contribute to leadership development, as it shapes individuals’ outlook, problem-solving abilities, and resilience. Those who overcome hardships and resolve their issues become more self-confident and compassionate towards others.

5 Sinek, S. (2017b). Leaders eat last: Why some teams pull together and others don’t. New York: Portfolio/Penguin, An Imprint Of Penguin Random House Llc, p.79.

They are unafraid of risks or failures because they have learned how to handle them and understand their role in achieving success. Leaders’ confidence during difficult times inspires their teams to adopt a similar mindset and create a culture of perseverance. The difference between success and failure lies in how leaders seize opportunities, driven by their desire for power and their ability to build and lead teams. Others may work equally hard but lack the same ambition and drive to capitalise on opportunities despite challenges. In society, only 10% of the population comprises leaders, while an additional 20% possesses leadership qualities but lacks the motivation for power.8 These individuals can be coached into leadership roles, but they lack the inherent drive that propels the top 10% towards success. People can have these qualities but if never given a chance for power or motivated to be in one. They never use them and regardless of the work they do, they can’t reach the top 10%. Power can be dangerous when in the wrong hands. They can do damage to themselves or others around them. Whenever a group moves from subsistence to surplus, and ruling classes, those with the greatest surplus work hardest to mould society to meet their expectations.9 We currently live in an economic surplus. There are more resources than we need to survive, and we can produce more than we need. The richest companies work so hard to lobby legislators to make (or eliminate) regulations to suit their interests.10 Here the idea of power-hungry people comes to mind. They will work to the top just to benefit themselves with no care for anyone else affected by their actions. Simon Sinek called this destructive abundance where the people at the top are out of balance, and their selfish pursuits are out of balance with their selfless pursuits. This is when the leader isn’t responsible, and they begin to view people within the company as another asset or bill to be managed and they lose their worth for the sake of self-improvement. These leaders are drawn to this abundance because of their want for power and because of the surplus where we can always make enough, they neglect others to maximise

their benefit and in this case their power over the surplus. We understand that power can make people act selfishly, thrive, and bring up other people but why do they do it, what are their intentions and what do they expect to achieve from it? The common answer is that people simply want influence and that they want control over others to feel better themselves. However, we have seen how power controls these people and they usually end up failing as leaders. Most people are motivated by power for autonomy and the freedom to do more and act without restraints. In a study, 36% more people chose to have a promotion that gave them more autonomy compared to more control. Power as autonomy is a form of power that allows one to ignore and resist the influence of others and shape their destiny.11 This contrasts influence which leaves people with a responsibility over the people they control which removes their freedom from influence. Leaders want to be able to take risks and action through their processes and ideas and they need autonomy to be able to progress in this way. Those who are given more influence often end up wanting more power because they fail to gain any more control over themselves. Leaders behave in the way they do to become more powerful, and the more autonomy they get, the further they can do this. So, when we ask why they behave like this it is for autonomy. From our instincts to gain recognition to more control over ourselves, people always want power, and they behave in many different ways. To answer, it makes someone do it. The risks are taken, decisions are made, and people do things with more intent. The idea you could be better off from a choice you make seems obvious, so people ignore any downside and act on it. To have power, people have to have it over something or someone and the endless need we have makes us take every chance we get.

6 Syed, M. (2011). Bounce: Beckham, Serena, Mozart and the science of success. London: Fourth Estate, p.7. 7 Konvalinka, I., Bauer, M., Stahlhut, C., Hansen, L.K., Roepstorff, A. and Frith, C.D. (2014). Frontal alpha oscillations distinguish leaders from followers: Multivariate decoding of mutually interacting brains. NeuroImage, 94, pp.79–88. doi https://doi. org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.03.003. 8 Kizer, K. (2023). 36 Powerful Leadership Statistics [2023]: Things All Aspiring Leaders Should Know – Zippia. [online] Zippia the Career Expert. Available at: https://www.zippia.com/advice/leadership-statistics/#:~:text=Leadership%20FAQ. 9 Sinek, S. (2017b). Leaders eat last: Why some teams pull together and others don’t. New York: Portfolio/Penguin, An Imprint Of Penguin Random House Llc, p.79. 10 ibid 11 Beck, J. (2016). Study: People Want Power Because They Want Autonomy. [online] The Atlantic. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/03/people-want-power-because-they-want-autonomy/474669/.

The Power of Zero: The Idea of Nothingness and Its Powerful Impacts on Our World Aeden So

We have all learned zero’s usage and special properties the day when we had our first maths lesson, yet many civilisations in the past have understated and struggled with this simple number. Where exactly was the barrier that stopped us from exploring maths further from geometry and arithmetic until the 10th century? The number zero, what does it actually do? Zero is defined as “having no measurable quantity or magnitude; not any” or similar wordings in many dictionaries.1 From its beginnings in ancient civilisations to its revolutionary impacts on different fields of modern mathematics, zero has emerged as a symbol of limitlessness and is the most transformative, powerful idea in the philosophy of mathematics. I will establish the different and multifaceted power of zero: from its role as a numerical digit to mathematical operations, the philosophy of nothingness, calculus, the Cartesian coordinate system and bizarrely an aircraft carrier in Virginia. By begging the question of what is zero, we will then be able to uncover the hidden power that has gradually reshaped our world and made the way we live today through ideas developed by thousands of mathematicians and philosophers hundreds of years ago. Part 1: The Journey of Zero The Birth of Zero The concept of zero emerged independently in different ancient civilisations. The earliest known use of zero as a numeral dates back to the ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia around 3 BC, and the Mayans invented it around 4 AD.2 However, it was in India that zero became revolutionary and where algebra and mathematical operations emerged. In addition, it was also where the term “zero” came from: from the medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic sifr, from Sanskrit sunya which means zero.3 It was Brahmagupta, an Indian astronomer4 in the 7th century, made significant contributions to

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the understanding and application of zero.5 He introduced zero as a number in Brahma-sphutaSiddhanta, recognising its significance beyond a mere placeholder. This was a massive breakthrough, a pivotal moment in mathematical history, as zero had gone from a symbol denoting absence to a numerical value that would be influential for the next coming millennia. As a Mathematical Placeholder Back in ancient times, people had different ways of dealing with numbers.6 They saw zero as a placeholder, like an empty spot in their calculations.7 The Mayans had their vigesimal system, which the Gauls also used. This system is still visible in the French language today.8 The Babylonians, on the other hand, had a sexagesimal system, which we still use for measuring time in minutes and seconds; and the Romans used Roman numerals, which assign values to different letters and complicate maths.9 Fibonacci, an Italian mathematician in the 12th century, wrote a book called Liber Abaci, which introduced HinduArabic numerals and the idea of zero to Medieval Europe, referencing the works of Brahmagupta.10 This had a profound impact on Europe by giving maths a solid foundation to build upon. Later during the Renaissance, maths got even more advanced because now we could express numbers beyond just 26 alphabets. That opened the door to doing more complex calculations and representing larger quantities.7 Our Decimal System The decimal system, which forms the basis of our modern numerical system, relies heavily on zero. (This is because it was more efficient for dactylonomy, to count with 10 fingers.)11 Each position in a number has a specific value determined by its position relative to zero. For example, in the number 203, the zero in the tens place indicates the absence of tens, while the two

1 “Definition of Zero | Dictionary.com,” www.dictionary.com, 2019, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/zero. 2 Robert Kaplan, “What Is the Origin of Zero? How Did We Indicate Nothingness before Zero?,” Scientific American, January 16, 2007, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-the-origin-of-zer/#:~:text=The%20first%20recorded%20zero%20 appeared 3 “Zero | Search Online Etymology Dictionary,” www.etymonline.com, accessed July 3, 2023, https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=zero. 4 Takao Hayashi, “Brahmagupta | Indian Astronomer | Britannica,” in Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Brahmagupta. 5 Christian Yates, “Five Ways Ancient India Changed the World – with Maths,” The Conversation, September 21, 2017, https://theconversation.com/five-ways-ancient-india-changed-the-world-with-maths-84332. 6 Curt Suplee, “The History of Zero,” Washington Post, January 12, 2000, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/2000/01/12/the-history-of-zero/36a6a2fd-9e18-484d-ae6f-450af0340830/. 7 “EDUC 525 - the Converter Box - Number Systems,” www.math.drexel.edu, accessed July 4, 2023, https://www.math.drexel.edu/~jsteuber/Educ525/History/history.html#:~:text=In%20base%2010%2C%20ten%20digits. 8 The Local France, ed., “So How Did the French End up with Their ‘Crazy Number,’” https://www.thelocal.fr/20190320/so-how-did-the-french-end-up-with-their-crazy-numbers (The Local France, March 20, 2019), https://www.thelocal.fr/20190320/sohow-did-the-french-end-up-with-their-crazy-numbers. 9 “A Brief History of Numbers: How 0-9 Were Invented,” Casio Calculators, August 2018, https://education.casio.co.uk/blog/a-brief-history-of-numbers/. 10 Deb Russell Math Expert Deb Russell is a school principal and teacher with over 25 years of experience teaching mathematics at all levels our editorial process Deb Russell, “Biography of Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci, Noted Italian Mathematician,”

in the hundreds place represents two hundred. Zero enables calculations to be more efficient and concise no matter which numeral system we use. For instance, now we can stack them together for application and subtraction; or to represent the exact value of the speed of light in a vacuum easier. Part 2: Zero in Mathematical Operations12 Multiplication and Division In multiplication, zero acts as the multiplicative annihilator. When any number is multiplied by zero, the result will always be zero. For instance, multiplying seven by zero gives you zero: 7 * 0 = 0. This property gives a magical effect when solving equations when you can simplify equations to make them look less complicated, called the zero-factor property.13 Division by zero, however, forms a unique challenge in mathematics. It is an operation that is undefined and leads to mathematical errors. I’m sure everyone has been warned by all maths teachers to not divide any number by zero, since it will result in an undefined or indeterminate value. For example, dividing ten by zero has no meaningful solution: 10/0 is undefined. This peculiar property of zero draws a line in mathematical operations involving zero. Still, many mathematicians have utilised this property to push mathematics even further using limitations, such as calculus by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz.14 15 The Physical Power of Zero There was once in history when a division of zero created chaos. On 21 Sep 1997, the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier halted for almost three hours during training manoeuvres off the coast of Cape Charles in Virginia due to a divide-by-zero error in a database application by someone accidentally adding an extra zero into a division and not caught by the program, completely crashing the Microsoft Windows 4.0 computers. It eventually took engineers two days just to get rid of that single zero from the system and its

engines repaired. 16 Luckily this ship was not at war and had the time to recover. But through this example, zero demonstrates its literal power to physically defeat an intelligent computer and a group of engineers. Part 3: The Philosophy of Mathematics of Zero Philosophy of Zero Zero is often associated with the concept of nothingness, the void, or the absence of being. It represents a state of emptiness or non-existence and makes us question our understanding of reality. Philosophers throughout history have tried to contemplate the concept of absence. Zero serves as a symbol that explores the boundaries of what is and what is not. Existential Thoughts Within existentialism, zero and nothingness play a central role in the meaning of life.17 Existentialist thinkers, such as Jean-Paul Sartre18 and Albert Camus,19 explored the existential void and the human condition in the face of apparent nothingness. They argued that human existence is fundamentally characterised by the tension between the desire for meaning and the realisation of the zero and absurdity of existence and thoughts.20 The Pythagoreans, members of a group led by Pythagoras, along with many Greek philosophers, denied and rejected the idea of zero, thereby slowing down the development of mathematics.21 They thought maths had to be built upon nature, and there is no such thing as zero found in nature, as an English 19th-century mathematician, Alfred North Whitehead once wrote “No one goes out to buy zero fish.”22 The Pythagoreans were so furious about this innocent number and when one of Pythagoras’ students, Hippasus discovered the existence of negative numbers and the idea that zero is the centre of positive numbers and negative numbers, the Pythagoreans murdered Hippasus to protect

ThoughtCo, July 24, 2019, https://www.thoughtco.com/leonardo-pisano-fibonacci-biography-2312397#:~:text=Leonardo%20Pisano%20Fibonacci%20(1170%E2%80%931240. 11 “Number Bases - Fundamentals of Data Representation - AQA - GCSE Computer Science Revision - AQA,” BBC Bitesize, accessed July 10, 2023, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zd88jty/revision/2#:~:text=Decimal%20is%20the%20most%20 common. 12 “Zero,” www.mathsisfun.com, accessed July 4, 2023, https://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/zero.html. 13“The Zero Product Property,” www.varsitytutors.com, accessed July 6, 2023, https://www.varsitytutors.com/hotmath/hotmath_help/topics/zero-product-property#:~:text=The%20Zero%20Product%20Property%20simply. 14 Ittay Weiss, “Nothing Matters: How the Invention of Zero Helped Create Modern Mathematics,” The Conversation, September 20, 2017, https://theconversation.com/nothing-matters-how-the-invention-of-zero-helped-create-modern-mathematics-84232. 15 Yvon Belaval and Brandon C Look, “Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz | Biography & Facts,” in Encyclopaedia Britannica, November 10, 2018, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz. 16 Bishr Tabbaa, “When Smart Ships Divide by Zer0 — Stranding the USS Yorktown,” DataSeries, May 6, 2020, https://medium.com/dataseries/when-smart-ships-divide-by-zer0-uss-yorktown-4e53837f75b2. 17 Nicola Abbagnano, “Existentialism | Definition, Nature, History, & Issues,” in Encyclopaedia Britannica, February 7, 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/existentialism. 18 Christian Onof, “Sartre, Jean Paul: Existentialism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,” internet encyclopedia of philosophy, accessed July 6, 2023, https://iep.utm.edu/sartre-ex/.

Pythagoras’ numerology.23 This example fully showed the bigotry of ancient people, who were so against the number zero, and its power to make great minds like Pythagoras fear it. The Power of Nullity Zero’s philosophical implications extend to the concept of nullity, representing a state of emptiness or absence of value. “Is nothing a thing?”, this paradoxical question creates many problems in philosophy. To make it clear, imagine you have an empty box, and you put another smaller empty box inside of the bigger one, does the bigger box now have anything, or have nothing? Nullity raises questions about the nature of absence, the significance of emptiness, and the interplay between presence and absence in the number zero. Part 4: Zero’s Modern Scientific Application Physics Zero is closely associated with the concept of space and the vacuum. A vacuum represents the absence of matter and energy.24 Zero is used to describe the lowest possible energy state in a system, known as zero-point energy. This energy state, associated with quantum fluctuations, has implications for understanding the fundamental nature of reality and the behaviour of subatomic particles, also yielding the question of whether anti-matter and anti-energy exist.25 Zero also appears in the context of temperature: the Kelvin scale starts at absolute zero, the point where all molecular motion theoretically ceases.26 Absolute zero serves as a reference point for measuring temperature and studying the behaviour of matter at extremely low temperatures. Coordinates The Cartesian coordinate system, developed by René Descartes in his book La géométrie, uses two perpendicular number lines, the x-axis and the y-axis, intersecting at the origin point (0, 0).27 This origin point,

where both x and y coordinates are zero, acts as a reference point, allowing us to measure distances and plot points in relation to the origin. It serves as the starting point for the entire coordinate system, allowing more precise mathematical representations and geometric analyses. 28 This system was a product of the Renaissance when zero flourished in different areas of study. This book was so powerful that its contents remained in our daily maths lessons. Boolean Logic Zero plays a crucial role in digital systems and binary code. Binary code is the foundation of modern computing, where information is represented using a series of zeros and ones. For example, the number 21 in the decimal system could be represented by 10101: every position leftwards represents the presence or the absence of a bigger exponent of 2. In computers, these numbers represent on-state and off-state, True or False. The Boolean logic needs the number zero to form the basis of digital communication, enabling the storage, processing, and transmission of information in electronic devices. Conclusion The power of zero extends far beyond its mathematical meaning. As a numerical digit, zero revolutionised mathematical systems, allowing advanced calculations, positional notation and the development of algebra and calculus. Beyond mathematics, zero holds philosophical implications, delving into the depths of nullity and existentialism. In science, zero is constantly linked to concepts like vacuum, number scales and the foundation of computing. The power of zero shapes our understanding of the world and unlocks new realms of possibility. Embracing zero opens the doors to boundless potential and astounds us with what appears to be nothing, 0.

19 Ronald Aronson, “Albert Camus,” ed. Edward N. Zalta and Uri Nodelman, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 2022), https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/camus/#:~:text=Since%20existence%20 itself%20has%20no. 20 Douglas Burnham and George Papandreopoulos, “Existentialism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d., https://iep.utm.edu/existent/. 21 Charles Seife, Zero : The Biography of a Dangerous Idea (London: Souvenir Press, 2000). 22 Alfred North Whitehead, An Introduction to Mathematics (Courier Dover Publications, 2017). 23 Aiden Nel, “What Was Pythagoreanism? The Cult of Pythagoras Explored,” TheCollector, April 1, 2023, https://www.thecollector.com/cult-of-pythagoras/#. 24 Charlie Wood, “How the Physics of Nothing Underlies Everything | Quanta Magazine,” Quanta Magazine, August 9, 2022, https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-the-physics-of-nothing-underlies-everything-20220809/. 25 “FOLLOW-UP: What Is the ‘Zero-Point Energy’ (or ‘Vacuum Energy’) in Quantum Physics? Is It Really Possible That We Could Harness This Energy?,” Scientific American, August 18, 1997, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/follow-up-what-isthe-zer/. 26 Caitlin Gainey, “Racing toward Absolute Zero,” Scientific American Blog Network, August 16, 2019, https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/racing-toward-absolute-zero/#:~:text=Absolute%20zero%2C%20technically%20known%20as. 27 Paul Parsons and Gail Dixon, Instant Mathematics : Key Thinkers, Theories, Discoveries and Concepts Explained on a Single Page (London: Welbeck, 2020), p 60. 28 Joseph Flynt , “The Cartesian Coordinate System and Its Importance in Manufacturing,” 3D Insider, April 3, 2021, https://3dinsider.com/cartesian-coordinate-system/.

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Desperately Needed Remedies … Desperately Needed Remedies for the Undebuggability of Large Floating-Point Computations in Science and Engineering,” April 24, 2012. https://people.eecs. berkeley.edu/~wkahan/Boulder.pdf. Kaplan, Robert. “What Is the Origin of Zero? How Did We Indicate Nothingness before Zero?” Scientific American, January 16, 2007. https://www. scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-the-origin-ofzer/#:~:text=The%20first%20recorded%20zero%20 appeared. Nel, Aiden . “What Was Pythagoreanism? The Cult of Pythagoras Explored.” TheCollector, April 1, 2023. https://www.thecollector.com/cult-of-pythagoras/#. O’Connor, J J, and E F Robertson. “Fibonacci Biography.” Maths History, 2010. https://mathshistory. st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Fibonacci/. Onof, Christian. “Sartre, Jean Paul: Existentialism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.” internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Accessed July 6, 2023. https://iep.utm.edu/sartre-ex/. Parsons, Paul, and Gail Dixon. Instant Mathematics : Key Thinkers, Theories, Discoveries and Concepts Explained on a Single Page. London: Welbeck, 2020. Russell , Deb “Biography of Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci, Noted Italian Mathematician.” ThoughtCo, July 24, 2019. https://www.thoughtco. com/leonardo-pisano-fibonacci-biography2312397#:~:text=Leonardo%20Pisano%20 Fibonacci%20(1170%E2%80%931240. Resnick, Brian. “Zero: The Mind-Bendy Math behind It, Explained.” Vox. Vox, July 5, 2018. https://www.vox. com/science-and-health/2018/7/5/17500782/zeronumber-math-explained. Scientific American. “FOLLOW-UP: What Is the ‘ZeroPoint Energy’ (or ‘Vacuum Energy’) in Quantum Physics? Is It Really Possible That We Could Harness This Energy?,” August 18, 1997. https://www. scientificamerican.com/article/follow-up-what-is-thezer/. Seife, Charles. Zero : The Biography of a Dangerous Idea. London: Souvenir Press, 2000. Suplee, Curt. “The History of Zero.” Washington Post, January 12, 2000. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ archive/2000/01/12/the-history-of-zero/36a6a2fd-9e18484d-ae6f-450af0340830/. Tabbaa, Bishr. “When Smart Ships Divide by Zero — Stranding the USS Yorktown.” DataSeries, May 6, 2020. https://medium.com/dataseries/when-smartships-divide-by-zer0-uss-yorktown-4e53837f75b2. The Local France, ed. “So How Did the French End up with Their ‘Crazy Number.’” https://www.thelocal. fr/20190320/so-how-did-the-french-end-up-with-theircrazy-numbers. The Local France, March 20, 2019. https://www.thelocal.fr/20190320/so-how-did-the-

french-end-up-with-their-crazy-numbers. Weiss, Ittay. “Nothing Matters: How the Invention of Zero Helped Create Modern Mathematics.” The Conversation, September 20, 2017. https:// theconversation.com/nothing-matters-howthe-invention-of-zero-helped-create-modernmathematics-84232.

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Social media – a stairway to dreams and destruction Ollie Walmsley

HIG HLY COMM E ND E D

Social media is complex place, full of exciting experiences and opportunities, full of forums to connect friends from around the world, full of mesmerising, picturesque photos, and it is full of young teenagers trying to make sense of this ever-changing world that we call home. The younger generation do this by listening to social media “influencers”. The definition of successful is “accomplishing a desired aim or result” and in our modern society, we perceive how successful you are in numerous different ways (i.e. wealth, quality of life, occupation, living standard) and a social media influencer has now fallen into this very resplendent category. 1 We know this is true because evidence suggests up to 41.10% of Gen Z children in the west of the USA want to become influencers when they are older.2 This doesn’t come as a surprise because every child fantasises about sports cars and big houses, and this seems to them like an easy in road into that elite group. Even vile a human being who is still under investigation of sex trafficking and sexual assault, Andrew Tate, are still heavily followed on social media, with over 6.4 million followers over all his accounts. Furthermore, Kanye West, an active misogynist, still has around 18 million followers across all platforms.3 The vast numbers of followers blindly listening to false information given out by the influencers is due to innumerable factors, but one of the largest two factors is that the trust between people and government has disintegrated and ceased to exist. In 2019, only 15% of people who were asked said that they trust the government either “most of the time” or “just about always”.4 The Other factor is the Hierarchy of credibility, and this principle invented by Howard S.Becker states that “those at the top ( of an organization or a society) aren’t seen to be more credible, and those at the bottom are not.”5 This belief that everything influencers do and say is gold dust and the addictiveness of social media is what I shall be discussing in this essay. 1 This information was sourced from ‘definitions of Oxford Languages’ 2 https://www.highervisibility.com/ppc/learn/gen-z-and-the-rise-of-influencer-culture/ 3 https://www.followerstat.com/report/kanyewest 4 https://www.politico.eu/article/survey-trust-in-british-government-dropped-to-record-low/ 5 https://theconversation.com/the-online-hierarchy-of-credibility-that-fuels-influencers-like-andrew-tate-197292 6 https://neurotray.com/how-many-words-can-the-brain-process-per-minute/ 7 https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-statistics/ 8 https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/dark-side-becoming-making-influencer-7308116

We can process 300-500 word per minute, and this means that, while not in full production, we lose interest in things incredibly quickly.6 This means are constantly looking for something to do to occupy our minds and sustain the constant flow of information required to keep us functioning. This is when we turn to social media. Not matter the information given out by the influencers, weather fact or myth, we listen to them. This is due to several reasons. One of the reasons is that the influencer market grew by over £14.7billion pounds within the space of 6 years.7 This opens our opportunist brain and entices us into dreaming about a career in social media. This is what fuels the growth of this ever-expanding empire. Furthermore, some of the most renowned influencers are earning ridiculous sums of money, which not only helps to increase the gross net worth of the industry but helps to bring in a larger audience. For instance, Zoella and Deliciously Ella have net worths of £4.7 million and £2.5 million respectively.8 These profits convey a sense of prosperity and vibrancy, which attracts people to this market because of the large salaries, exacerbating the market. In addition, influencers portray their lives as luxurious and effortless and this causes your brain to produce dopamine, which makes you believe that this lifestyle is the way forward. We know that the “adolescent years are a time of rapid, physical, cognitive growth, and emotional development” and this is very much the time where we interact and socialise with people, of all different ages, to gain an idea of how to become “competent” adults9. We know we develop these skills via talking to friends, parents, and teachers, but in today’s world there is another social category we can add into that group, social media. Social media can severely effect how we turn out in later life, and it doesn’t always cause positive outcomes. The department of education conducted an experiment and found that in “2005 34% of 14-year-old-girls had said that they had suffered from psychological distress, and this number rose to 37% in

2014.”10 This shows that within the 9-year period of the experiment, the number increased, implying that social media platforms are not being checked for derogatory information. This increases the detrimental effects on people’s mental health, and it just goes to show that social media isn’t always used for the right reasons. But this poses the question, “why do people find social media so enticing and why do people still come back for more content?” Addiction is defined as “the fact or condition of being dependent to a particular substance or activity”, and we constantly find ourselves falling into this trap, particularly with social media.11 We know that teens have an addictive tendency to go back to their phones because I conducted my own survey and found that 5 boys spent on average, around 2 hours and 39 minutes on their phones daily, with 80% of the boys spending longer than 2 hours 30 minutes on their phones daily. This shows us that social media is like a drug and is incredibly difficult to avoid and that, even those who may spend a large proportion of their time playing sport, are still susceptible to spending a large amount of time on their phone each day. This is fast becoming an epidemic and it needs to be addressed. As a society, we know that social media isn’t always an optimal way to spend our time, but we still do it because we use social media as a tool to help relieve stress and talk to friends and family. This process is repeated and then it creates a psychological dependency, and this is when individuals feel are convinced that they “cannot manage or enjoy

themselves without it.”12 People also feel an obligation to go online because people, particularly young people, feel as though it allows them to gain an “identity” and helps them expand their “friendship” group. This can partially be put down to the fact that, as a race, we have evolved to desire human companionship, and social media has exacerbated this desire, because it has given us the option to stay in constant communication. This option of constant communication is incredible but a curse, because it may result in people spending excess time on their phones communicating to their friends. Furthermore, when social media first arose, it was a revelation and people caught the bug of online communication. This is evident when, in 1997, the social media platform SixDegrees was established, and this site allowed people to create profiles and establish connections.13 11 years after this site was established, Microsoft conducted a survey and that 30 billion conversations were connected by an average of 6.6 social “hops” between any two individuals.14 This excited people and enticed them to stay on social media because it allowed them to connect with people on the other side of the world. Although social media was a revelation, it is also a curse. Spending too long on social media platforms, such as a messaging apps or content apps, can mean that people develop undesirable traits that they would otherwise not have. Examples of these symptoms include mood modification - a change in feeling, attitude, and

9 https://theconversation.com/is-social-media-to-blame-for-the-worsening-mental-health-of-teenage-girls-64333 10 https://theconversation.com/is-social-media-to-blame-for-the-worsening-mental-health-of-teenage-girls-64333 11 This information was sourced from the “Definitions from Oxford language”. 12 https://www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/social-media-addiction/#:~:text=Social%20media%20addiction%20is%20a%20behavioral%20addiction%20that%20is%20characterized,impairs%20other%20important%20life%20areas. 13 https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/greyothsm/the_creation_of_communities_why_people_join_social_networking_sites_1990s_present/0

behaviour; withdrawal symptoms – the physical and mental symptoms someone experiences when they cut back on, or stop, using an addictive substance; and finally, “conflict” and “relapse”.15 All these symptoms are also adjacent to the negative symptoms of taking illegal contraband. This is further highlighted by a study done by Harvard University, with the experiment concluding that “self-disclosure on social networking sites light up the same part of the brain that also ignited when taking an addictive substance”.16 This shows us that social media is incredibly hard to resist and that it has become normal, and therefore the issue is not being addressed properly. However, addictiveness isn’t the only primary concern of social media. Another major concern is “why do people try to mimic influencer’s behaviours?”

Finally, our brain stops developing around our midto-late 20s, and this means that we are constantly developing throughout our teenage years.20 At this age we are still picking up on social etiquette and how to develop into a mature human being. (We are always trying to find shortcuts to try to help our development, and this process is called heuristics). However, it is also a time for developing join in, because it will make us feel happy. This is known as the “bandwagon effect”. This is a “psychological phenomenon in which people do something primarily because other people are doing I, regardless of their own beliefs.”21 This is why influencer’s followings have shot up because people instinctively think they must do the same as everyone else.

This issue concerns the idea that people prefer to be sheep and will listen to whatever the shepherd tells them to do. Some people may argue that social media has given ‘ordinary’ people the ability to build their own brand through “stimulating content and engagement”. However, the only basis for this argument can be easily faltered because without the initial drive for the result, people wouldn’t put anywhere near as much effort in to create content. TikTok has created a $1 billion Creator fund to nurture influencers, and this means that influencers can ascertain more money and expand their empire, which in turn increases views because people dream to be like that person.17 Furthermore, the IMI (influencer Marketing Industry) was estimated to be worth around $16.4 billion in 2022.18 Off the back of this ridiculous net worth, people let their naivety take control of them and this means that we believe we can be exactly like the most famous influencers, and so we start to mimic behaviours and characteristics.

In conclusion, social media is an extremely complex and integral part of our lives. Without it we would be bored senseless and around 500 million people, whether extremely successful or not, would be out of a job. It has allowed technology to grow exponentially and has given people the ability to connect with friends and family wherever they may be around the world. Without the development of the internet, the world would be nowhere near as technologically advanced and not as much of the Earth would have been unveiled to the world.

Additionally, influencers use the strategy of reaching out to fans, because it perceives them as being ‘ordinary’. However, this strategy has been proved to be effective as 4 in 10 Millennials believe that their preferred influencer knows more about them than their closest friends or family.19

However, social media has allowed people’s offensive views to published to the world (Andrew Tate and Kanye west) and has given them superfluous influence over the younger generation. Social media has brought about stereotypes that have caused a large proportion (34% in 2005 for 14-year-olds) of girls to experience psychological distress. Finally, it has caused a large amount of conflict around the world, such as the protests in America due to Donald Trump’s tweets. I believe that social media is incredible but needs to monitor certain influencers and their views and that they should give out more severe sanctions for people that post misogynistic, homophobic, or racist content. This needs to be addressed because the younger

14 https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/greyothsm/the_creation_of_communities_why_people_join_social_networking_sites_1990s_present/0 15 https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180201-how-your-social-media-betrays-your-mood 16 https://gabb.com/blog/why-is-social-media-addictive/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAccording%20to%20a%20new%20study,when%20taking%20an%20addictive%20substance. 17 https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/20-influencer-marketing-statistics-that-will-surprise-you 18 https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-statistics/ 19 https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/20-influencer-marketing-statistics-that-will-surprise-you 20 https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-teen-brain-7-things-to-know#:~:text=Although%20the%20brain%20stops%20growing 21 https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bandwagon-effect.asp

generations are growing up in a world full of technology and influencers views are having more of an impact on people’s behaviours and attitudes towards certain groups of people and general etiquette. Bibliography

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Available at: https://www.highervisibility.com/ppc/learn/ gen-z-and-the-rise-of-influencer-culture/ [Accessed 19 Aug. 2022]. National Institute of Mental Health (2023). The Teen Brain: 7 Things to Know. [online] National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Available at: https://www.nimh. nih.gov/health/publications/the-teen-brain-7-things-toknow#:~:text=Although%20the%20brain%20stops%20 growing. Ramsden, P. (2016). Is social media to blame for the worsening mental health of teenage girls? [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation. com/is-social-media-to-blame-for-the-worseningmental-health-of-teenage-girls-64333. Santora, J. (2023). Key Influencer Marketing Statistics You Need to Know for 2022. [online] Influencer Marketing Hub. Available at: https:// influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketingstatistics/. SocialStar. (2023). How Many Influencers Are There in the World? [online] Available at: https://officialsocialstar. com/blogs/influencer/how-many-influencers-arethere-in-the-world#:~:text=Answer%3A%20It%20is%20 estimated%20that [Accessed 12 Jul. 2023]. www.followerstat.com. (n.d.). @kanyewest - Instagram analytics and growth insights for Ye account Instagram Stats & Free Analytics Stats Online. [online] Available at: https://www.followerstat.com/report/ kanyewest [Accessed 12 Jul. 2023]. York, N.W., University of (2022). The dark side of becoming an ‘influencer’ as a career choice. [online] HullLive. Available at: https://www.gloucestershirelive. co.uk/news/uk-world-news/dark-side-becomingmaking-influencer-7308116 [Accessed 19 Jun. 2023].

The Power of Art Sarthak Sanyal

HIG HLY COMM E ND E D Art. It’s a glamorous expression, able to convey a myriad of emotions. It can take up a vast range of styles, each one as unique as the next, from paintings and sculptures to literature and cinema. It is able to be interpreted differently by everyone, creating the possibility for further ideas to be forged. It was presented at the earliest stages in mankind as early as 30000 B.P, and has undoubtedly evolved and grown over the centuries, advancing from cavemen drawings to hyperealism work, becoming more and popular every second. Did you know that sales of fine art reached a staggering $15.9 billion in 2022? (Stanley, 2023) And that’s excluding other art forms such as theatre and music, which will undoubtedly also reach momentous sale figures, proving the strength of the arts industry. I will be answering today the question of how power is shown and explored through art, diverging through a timeline of ancient works, to modern pieces, and the picture of the future. But first, I think to truly answer my question, I first need to solidify my meaning of ‘power’. The word power can be viewed by a lot of different angles, being able to be made a noun, adjective, and verb. Usually, you would associate ‘power’ with physical attributes such as strength and force, but that’s just scratching the surface of its meaning. Power can also be a mental mindset, being a measure of the potential influence and control you have over lots of people, and the way you yourself are able to act in a particular way. These split

meanings mean a lot of things apply to it, which is why my main question is so intriguing. It could be anything. Additionally, power isn’t a solely positive thing, in some cases being a distorting effect on people, with famous examples including Hitler, using his power for evil against the Jews. This split of meaning is highlighted by the views of famous people, showcasing a plethora of opinions. For instance, John C. Maxwell described power in talking about leadership, saying, ‘Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their power to empower others’’ (goodreads, 1993), whereas Michael Foucault expressed his view of power as ‘’not an institution, and not a structure… it’s the name one attributes to a complex strategical situation in a particular society.’’ (BrainyQuote, 2001) As I previously mentioned before, art has been around for a long time, 40000 years to be precise, dating all the way back to the prehistoric era, more specifically the Upper Palaeolithic Period. The most prominent form at this stage were cave paintings and rock art created by the early humans at this period. Most commonly notable is the cave paintings of the Chauvet Cave in France (Wikipedia, 2023), estimated to be nearly 32000 years old. Now on the surface, these works might not seem to hold a substantial value or amount of power, but when you explore deeper, you understand the significance it has. Firstly, these paintings were created in a time where civilizations was still far from maturing. The sheer existence of them offers a

pathway into the past world and shows us how life was lived all those years ago. I think this demonstrates its power truly, as knowing information from the past can easily help alter the outcome of the future, as well as showing us more such as how we’ve developed, which can further change are perspectives on the future for mankind. This is backed up by countless archaeologists writing books on the topic of cave paintings alone, emphasizing the significance it holds in society to this day. Examples include Jean Clottes (Wikipedia, 2023), writing over 300 scientific papers and co-editing 20 book, a known example being the book, “What is Palaeolithic Art?” (The University Of Chicago Press, 2016) Moreover, this isn’t the only recognisable examples of ancient art. In Ancient Egypt, there was a surplus of art examples, from the intricate pictures used in the hieroglyphs, to the intriguing patterns prominent in the likes of Tutankhamun’s mask and Khufu’s Statuette (TheArtist, 2023). Examples of art were on show everywhere, and power is blatant in them. Looking closer and understanding hieroglyphs, these were little pictures that pieced together one of the oldest languages in history alongside Sumerian Language, another instance of art in the form of literature and patterns. Having pictures and symbols representing individual letters to form words, has certainly influenced how more modern languages work, with certain ancient languages such as Latin having a powerful impact on the English language today, with many words directly correlating from Latin such as ‘agenda’ and ‘ambiguous’ (ThoughtCo., 2019). The fact that this ancient art still influences the modern day, is a sure sign of art’s power. And this is just scratching the surface, only covering the more physical forms of art, overlooking other types, for instance, Theatre. For example, Ancient Greek theatre is renowned for its influence on modern western theatre, with it creating styles and forms such as comedy or tragedy, which are seen plenty today. Famous works illustrating this include Aeschylus (Wikipedia, 2023), and Sophocles (Wikipedia, 2023). Significant power is shown in that we take inspiration to this day from these ancients works. Other examples include olden Chinese Theatre (Wikipedia, 2023), which managed to promote cultural values and reflect the power and influence of the ruling class, showing it was able to add value, hence having power.

Art has continued to adapt and evolve over generations and centuries, bringing new styles to the table, like impressionism and abstract. Along with the art evolving, I believe the power on display has also evolved, and is now much more vast and wide ranging, with countless examples to back it, most notably coming from Banksy, an English street artist. His art often contains political themes and usually challenges notions of power and control in our society. This is seen in one of his most famous pieces of art named ‘Devolved Parliament’ (Wikipedia, 2023) showcasing British politicians as chimpanzees arguing in house of commons. These paintings allowed for a way for Banksy to challenge political views, with it gaining a lot of traction, with himself becoming famously known for this style of art. He’s able to express his opinions to the world, where other can see and agree, which is a great example of power. Another interesting example includes the work of artist Ai Weiwei, A Chinese Contemporary Artist who manages to shed light and tackle themes such as government oppression and human rights through his work. One of his most famous works was his exhibition of 100 million porcelain Sunflower Seeds (Rethinking The Future, 2022), representing the people of China and the uniformity of the Chinese communist party, shedding light on the matter, suggesting how they all are the same, whilst also exploring the concept of unity in diversity and how people can be powerful together. This work seemed to have a lot of traction, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to it, showing its true influential capability, and how it can inspire and education large numbers, a proper sign of power. Other examples include work from American Artist Kara Walker, trying to explore the ideas of representation and empowerment, and tackling issues of race, colonialism, and identity. One of her most famous murals ‘Gone’ does just that (MoMA, 2023), showing a historical romance of the civil war, representing discrimination from race that occurred in the slavery period. These murals shed light on the problems of discrimination, and helps lots to understand better, with her gaining international recognition for it. This topic is important, and she and her art manage to challenge not just it, but the existing power structure in a successful way, which surely is a fine demonstration of power. These examples illustrate how modern artists engage with and display power through their work, able to question, challenge, and highlight various topics,

structures and dynamics in society. As art continues to mature, I think the future is a very exciting prospect, with the potential it has, and the amount of power it could bring. And there are already early signs. More and more artists and galleries are incorporating the likes of virtual and augmented reality into their art, with an example appearing quite close to us, in Coventry. In spring 2022, The Reel Store opened, featuring the UK’s first immersive digital art gallery (CWLEP, 2021), with their first major exhibition ‘Machine Memoirs: Space’ by internationally acclaimed artist Refik Anadol, taking full use of artificial intelligence to reimagine 2 (Stanley, 2023)million images taken from NASA, which is remarkable, and demonstrates the power AI has, and how that power can be transferred to art, by implementing it into galleries and such. Moreover, the creation of this one of a kind gallery was met with much praise, with people such as Chenine Bhathena, Creative Director of the Coventry City of Culture Trust, saying, “I am delighted that Coventry, a youthful and pioneering city is launching The Reel Store with Machine Memoirs” (CWLEP, 2021) and Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay saying, “Coventry’s programme is making a real difference – and The Reel Store, a new immersive digital art gallery in the heart of the city, will help to make sure that it leaves a lasting legacy.” (CWLEP, 2021) This shows how positive the reactions have been, showing how this potential future for art is a bright one, not lacking anything from before. This represents just a fraction of the many artists who have embraced digital technology as a medium in their practice. They have explored and expanded the possibilities of art through the integration of technology, blurring the boundaries between the physical and the digital realms. This will continue to expand and soon might be the new normal. With the amount AI is doing already, and knowing it will only continue to grow, it is a true sign of the power art has by being able to implement AI into it. In conclusion, throughout all the periods of human history, art has been a consistent yet powerful topic, and will only continue to thrive with the likes of artificial intelligence soon to take control. From cave paintings to modern murals to fully artificial galleries, power is prominent throughout any type of art, and that is quite clear.

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