Power, Seduction and War The Descent of Power...

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The Descent of Power: An Interpretation of the

Global Economic Crisis Pt I
May
3, 2010
/ Blog (http://powerseductionandwar.com/category/blog/)
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The following is an amalgamation of two talks I gave recently: the rst at the Emirates Festival of Literature
in Dubai, and the second at the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore. Both of these talks were
geared for a business audience. I plan on posting in eight digestible installments or you can read the entire
ARCHIVE (HTTP://POWERSEDUCTIONANDWAR.COM/ARCHIVE/)

thing in the form of an ebook (http://www.scribd.com/doc/30859747/The-Descent-of-Power%E2%80

%94Thoughts-on-The-Great-Transformation-and-How-to-Master-It-by-Robert-Greene-an-ebook).
The subject that I am going to talk about this evening is the state of the world as I see it, what is really
CONTACT (HTTP://POWERSEDUCTIONANDWAR.COM/CONTACT/)
going
onnot what the newspapers report, not the conventional wisdom. But before I get to that, I want

to give you some context about my perspective, my way of thinking and where it comes from.
Mastery
In 1996(http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Robert-Greene/dp/0670024961/ref=pd_sim_b_5?ie=UTF8&
I began work on my rst book, The 48 Laws of Power (http://www.amazon.com/48-Laws-

Power-Robert-Greene/dp/0140280197/). The book had a simple premise: every human being has an
refRID=0X9X4QNSA15MV02WVPSV)
innate desire for power. What I mean by power is the ability to control to some degree the events

The 48 Laws of Power (http://www.amazon.com/The-Laws-Power-Robert-Greene/dp/0140280197)

around usto be able to inuence people, move them in our direction, direct our career path and protect

The
33 Strategies
of Warwho
(http://www.amazon.com/The-Strategies-Joost-Elffers-Books/dp/0143112783
ourselves
from those
are malicious. It also means having some control over our own destructive

impulses. When we exercise such control, we feel energized and condent. When we experience the
/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0X9X4QNSA15MV02WVPSV)
oppositehelpless in the face of circumstancewe become miserable and prone to all kinds of irrational

The Art of Seduction (http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Seduction-Robert-Greene/dp/1861977697

behavior. To gain power, we try almost anything, but we are never quite sure of what really works.

/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y)

The problem in writing such a book, as I saw it then, was the massive amount of confusion surrounding

The 50th Law (http://www.amazon.com/The-50th-Law-50-Cent/dp/006177460X/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&

the subject. Few people like to admit they are motivated by ambition or a hunger for power. That seems

refRID=1YX6YZ0P9RDKMSMSPP8V)
too ugly. If somehow they attain some success in life it is because of their goodness or talent, never

because of any maneuvering or political gamesmanship. Many people are masters at passive
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