Radical(?) take
"Power corrupts" imparts the idea that power, itself, is dangerous. That evil doesn't come from evil people, but rather that evil is a product of capability.
And I'll grant you that something can be said about people being generally oblivious and misusing power, or people being able to justify bad uses of power too easily.
However.
I get the feeling that the reason for this saying is more along the lines of "Don't resist your rulers. You'd be even worse. Beg for scraps."
After midnight Politics thoughts
I think the completion of that thought is... We should not be afraid of shifting power around or wanting power. We should focus on the ways we can keep an eye on the people using it, find ways to keep it transparent and transferable. A focus on whoever is using it having great responsibility.
Corrupt politicians should not be the status quo, they should be a failure state that triggers a removal and replacement.
