By Oguzhan Ozkan

Everything we do is to gain more of something: money, respect, sex, serenity, fame or ice-cream. In our tiny little self-universe, most of us limit ourselves to humble achievements, but some kids grow up wanting it all — and they are the ones who eventually and inevitably end up being ruthless administrators even though it wasn’t their intention in the first place.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the new president of Turkey, was once a man who had promised his people prosperity and happiness. His Justice and Development Party (AKP) meant a fresh start for religious middle- and lower-class Turks. This was perceived as a threat for the other part of the society, secular Turks; and given modern Turkey’s predecessor Ottoman Empire’s long history of involvement of religion in government, their fears are justified: Mr. Erdoğan transformed into a total autocrat in the guise of a democrat.

His long past with Islamic and conservative worldview replaced his progressive commitments to every single layer of society, and for the last 15 years, he gradually exercised a firm hand to control social movements. His absolute power — as has happened to every politician in charge throughout the history — corrupted him and he gave way to the lickspittles who flocked around him to take advantage of his political clout. His intolerance grew more and more; different voices were silenced and journalists imprisoned due to their brave efforts to oppose his authoritarian administration style.

Nietzsche once said, “He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster, and if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.’’ Power is politicians’ abyss. The more they endeavor to gain it, the more they sink into it. As they sink more and more, we, the common people, suffer the consequences of their struggle with their conscience.

There is an age of autocrats ahead of us with the likes of Putin, Trump and Erdoğan. They run things in their countries, and they have already divided their people in half; hence, it is logical to expect disputes getting deeper and politics get dirtier later on. What will never change is man’s hunger for dominance — and some kids will always grow up to be bullying politicians.