Power Reveals the True Character

Power Reveals the True Character

8 October 2025

From time to time, I come across that quote: “Anyone can handle adversity. If you want to know a man’s true character, give him power.” It’s often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, though there’s no solid proof he ever said it. Still, it captures a timeless truth.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about it a lot—especially after the recent incident in which a minister and his top civil servant decided to test each other’s strength. At one point, one shouted at the other: “You have no idea how much power I have.” And indeed, we are now seeing their true nature—and it’s not a pretty sight.

It reminds me of my father, who used to say, “It takes strong legs to carry the weight of wealth.” Well, here we are, watching how a few can’t seem to bear the weight of power. But as my in-laws often say: “No hay mal que por bien no venga”—there’s no bad from which some good can’t come.

And what good could come from this? At least now, it’s clear who cannot handle power.

It also reminds me of something I saw a few weeks ago: a Venezuelan influencer explaining that some people cheer at the idea of Trump intervening in Venezuela. But even if the current regime were to fall, he said, the real question is who would replace it—and it would still take at least a generation for Venezuela to regain good governance. Corruption, he explained, has become a normal part of life

That struck me, because his words could easily apply to us. We, too, are paying the price of normalized corruption. The road back up—for Curaçao—will be a very long one.But knowing where we stand is the first step toward finding our way back.

Miguel Goede