You can take general principle and apply them with analysis, it does not take much in terms of analysis to extract a useful lesson from history, the analysis has already been done for you.<p>Just like any other tool such insights can be (and are) abused but it need not be like that.<p>The conclusion to reach is not to give anyone any power ever, clearly that&#x27;s not feasible. The conclusion you&#x27;re supposed to reach is that you can give power to people but you&#x27;ll need oversight in place. Effectively you&#x27;ll end up with checks and balances, pretty much the way most governments are set up.<p>And what history tells us - again - is that this isn&#x27;t always sufficient to prevent abuses and our newspapers and other media seem to tell us that our current set of checks and balances have outlived their usefulness in the information age.<p>This flows from &#x27;power corrupts&#x27; because it appears that those placed in power have - surprise - again abused their privileges.<p>Think of it as a warning beamed down from historical times to our present day that does not need more embellishment and is all the more powerful for its brevity, it is something so inherent in human nature that we need to be vigilant of it at all times, no matter who we end up placing trust in.