Ballast: Weight added to a boat to enhance stability. âThe J/24 has 950 pounds of lead ballast.â. Berth: A sleeping area on a boat. Also, a place where a boat is tied up. âWe slept in the forward berth while John and Amy slept in the quarter berthâ or âWe keep our boat in a berth at McDoodleâs Marina.â.
Lord Acton writes to Bishop Creighton that the same moral standards should be applied to all men, political and religious leaders included, especially since âPower tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutelyâ (1887) From: Acton-Creighton Correspondence (John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton)
I think the question is best answered by considering who or what is being corrupted. Lord Actonâs phrase makes the most sense if we think in terms of corruption of the system, rather than the individual. Power corrupts insofar as it erodes the systemâs ability to temper the exercise of such power.