There is something in our nature that covets power. That statement is not true for everyone, but for some it is undoubtedly true. We see this phenomenon clearly in the field of politics, religion and business, especially in their leaders. Let me cite a few examples, and you will understand what I mean.

The Political Realm

Here, in America where I live most of the year, we had Donald Trump as our president. He is trying to get the job back from Biden and no one knows what will happen in the presidential election at the end of this year. There's a good chance he'll win, unfortunately. He is a racist and a bigot, and he is not ashamed of it - on the contrary, he is proud of it. Everyone knows about the many crimes he has been accused of, and he is in court every day! Despite all the bad things Trump has done, he has a huge following. His followers are loyal to him, no matter what he does. Among his followers, there are many Christian fundamentalists, aligning with him whether he is right or wrong. As we have already seen, Trump incited his followers to attack the Capitol, when he lost the presidential election. Trump aims to be a dictator, like one of his heroes, Vladimir Putin – a terrible role model for anyone. But after all that, his fans remain loyal to him.

The Religious Realm

While organized religions have no shortage of people who enjoy power, things are much worse in religious cults. And of those religious cults, it would be hard to imagine a worse leader than Warren Jeffs. Jeffs is a self-proclaimed prophet in a fundamentalist sect of the Church of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), a sect that practices polygamy. Jeffs rose to fame in the 90s when he was at the top of the FBI's most wanted list. He was arrested in 2011 and found guilty of serious misconduct. He sexually assaulted and married two teenage girls. He claiimed they were spiritual brides. The jury heard that Jeffs had about 78 wives, including 12 he married when they were 16, and 12 when 15 or younger.

Jeff was sentenced to life in prison. In 2007, he tried to hang himself in his prison cell in Utah. When he went on hunger strike in an Arizona prison in 2009, he was fed against his will. He is currently still in prison in Texas, with no chance of release until 2038 at the earliest. Jeffs' son, a man named Jeffson, said: “When we were just children we were woken up at five every morning to prepare breakfast and clean up afterwards. Then, we were sent out to work on the farm all day. There was no music, no internet, no television, no movies, nothing of that nature. My father created our environment, and we could never go against his will. It even controlled how we saw the outside world, in every way.”

Warren Jeffs had about 10,000 followers at the time of his sentencing, located in a remote town on the Utah-Arizona border, where his followers still live and practice their faith.

The Business Realm

Bernie Madoff ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history, defrauding his clients of $65 billion over a period of twenty years. He claimed to have earned a profit of 11% every year without fail for his clients, year after year, from the time he started his investment company. It was too good to be true! He did not invest his clients' money at all, and when clients withdrew money from their accounts, Madoff's stash was used to pay them. He had a big problem in 2008, when the stock market crashed. Many people were trying to withdraw money and not many new clients were coming in. The scheme ran out of money, and his goose was then cooked. He explained to his two sons, employed in their father's company, about the corruption and the situation they were in. His sons immediately contacted their lawyers, and their father was arrested the next morning. Bernie Madoff was sentenced to one hundred and fifty years in prison. He died in prison in 2021 at the age of eighty-two years. His two sons and his wife claimed they did not know what Bernie Madoff was doing. Other officers in the company were also convicted and sentenced to prison terms. Madoff destroyed the lives of many people; including his family, colleagues and clients. Bernie Madoff was not the least bit remorseful for the heinous crimes he committed. Madoff was as rich as you've ever seen – before the corruption. It is therefore difficult to understand why he was prepared to sacrifice everything for a chance to get more money illegally, and why so many people believed that Madoff was capable of performing investment miracles, year after year. year!

Conclusion

It is very clear that unbridled greed is a kind of cancer of the mind, and the above-mentioned people have/had the disease badly. People like that do a lot of harm, not only to themselves, but to many people around them, and to society in general. People like this are able to put many others under their spell, so that they do everything that is asked of them - even if it goes against their own principles. As difficult as it is to understand the aforementioned leaders, it is even more difficult to understand their followers.

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Steve Lopez has long been a first-rate journalist and writer. He started working as a columnist for the 'LA Times' in 2001. He has won national journalism awards, as well as an award for creative non-fiction. Steve wrote a book when he was in his late sixties, entitled: "Independence Day: What I Learned About Retirement from Some Who've Done It and Some Who Never Will." He continued to work part-time as a weekly columnist for the 'LA Times', a job he still holds, now in his seventies. He started a new column at the time called 'The Golden State' and it's a column exclusively about seniors, something I haven't seen in any other newspaper, and not often in other media either. I love his column, and read it every week, without fail. I learn a lot of significant and important things there, and it is also a source of inspiration for me, without a doubt. One recent column Steve wrote really impressed me. This is a summary of that story.

Teti’s Story

Tá Pete Teti ar an mbóthar ceart más iad gluaiseacht agus géinte maithe bunús an tsaoil fhada.  Cé go bhfuil cónaí ar Pete i gcathair Los Angeles, tá sé in aice le Griffith Park, páirc iontach atá beagnach trí huaire níos mó ná Páirc an Fhionnuisce i mBaile Átha Cliath. Baineann Pete lántairbhe as, mar téann sé ar shiúlóid i nGriffith Park gach re lá.   Casann Pete lena chairde in aice le ‘Griffith Observatory’ agus siúlann an dream beag suas go barr ‘Mt. Hollywood’, agus ar ais. Tá an tsiúlóid timpeall 4 ciliméadar ar fhad, agus is gá dul suas (agus ansin teacht anuas) 150 méadar in airde. Babhta traenála atá i gceist, is cuma d’aois, agus bogann Pete ar aghaidh ar an gcosán ar luas mear. Tógann sé sos beag ar an tslí agus suíonn sé ar feadh tamaillín ar bhinse páirce atá ainmnithe ina onóir! Seinneann sé an t-orgán béil le linn a shosa bhig, roimh leanúint ar aghaidh ag siúl.  Níos faide anonn, síneann cathair mhór na nAingeal amach ó na sléibhte go dtí an tAigéan Ciúin.

“Fágann siad a bhfadhbanna go léir sa chathair,” arsa Teti, ag bogadh gan stró chomh héasca le fear i bhfad níos óige.  Beannaíonn sé do dhaoine go minic, mar tá aithne aige ag go leor de na siúlóirí sa pháirc. Stopann Pete arís tamaillín, agus seinneann sé port eile ar a orgán béil. Ceapann fear darb ainm Jay Miller, atá 20 bliain níos óige ná Pete, go bhfuil Pete ar tí teacht anuas, ach níl an ceart aige.  Ar aghaidh le Pete suas ardú géar i dtreo mullach an tsléibhe, agus a chomrádaithe á leanúint.

Dar le fear eile ar an tsiúlóid, Tom McGovern, b’fhéidir nach bhfuil Pete ag siúl chomh tapa anois agus a bhí sé blianta ó shin, nuair a chasadar le chéile ar dtús. “Dá aois, bogann Pete ar luas lasrach!” arsa Tom. “Luas maith d’aon duine é sin, is cuma cén aois iad, i ndáiríre.”

Chas Nancy agus Mark Kristol le Pete le linn na pandéime, agus iad go léir ag siúl sa pháirc.  D’fhorbair caidreamh faoi leith eatarthu de réir a chéile, agus iad ag casadh le chéile go minic. “Is rud iontach é casadh le Pete suas anseo, mar tá gean ar leith aige ar an sliabh agus tá sé in aon sruth leis a thimpeallacht nádúrtha,” dar le Nancy.  “Tearmann ó ghleo agus ruaille buaille na cathrach atá i gceist san áit seo, leis an bhfear iontach seo.”

Pete started walking up Mt. Hollywood more than twenty years ago, when he noticed that he was putting on weight. Today he is a thin man, in his prime, not only physically but also intellectually. He never stopped learning, even when he retired as a teacher after 50 years in that role. His friend, Jay, said that Pete has made two violins, is an artist, is currently creating animation, and is always learning physics, chemistry and math. When Steve Lopez met Pete at home, Pete showed him a gazebo he built, made of stained glass, and tiles he laid in the back patio. Pete has a studio in the house, overflowing with books, computers and abstract paintings.

On his most recent birthday, he joined his friends near his bench, for whom this tribute was written: "Pete Teti: Mouth organist, avid hiker, artist, teacher and World War II veteran." Then, those different people went on a celebratory walk up Mt. Hollywood, under the leadership of Pete Teti, who has reached the age of one hundred! What a role model Pete is, leading us all by example!

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