ABSTRACT
The addictive aspect of power derives from the circumstance that the more of it acquired, the more intense the need for it becomes. It stands to reason that struggles for power will be most intense in societies where the perceived “rewards” of power are greatest. V. I. Lenin was addicted to intellectual power. This was the power he wielded to bring his fellow revolutionaries into line. Power resides both in government and in the Party organs. The slogan of the Bolsheviks during the political free-for-all had been “All power to the Soviets.” In the Soviet Union political control was exercised until recently by a virtual monopoly of both education and communication, not only of the media but also of content. The goal of this control was undoubtedly that of guarding the orthodoxy of officially approved ideology. Extermination of human beings was planned and systematically carried out as the Nazis sought to perfect their methods of dehumanization.
