Suffering As a Measure of Power

 

Power is often imagined as something loud and visible uniforms, wealth, authority, titles. Yet in everyday life, power is most clearly revealed not by how loudly it speaks, but by how much suffering it can impose and normalize without resistance. Where people endure pain quietly, power is already at work.

In many societies, suffering is rarely questioned when it comes from above. Instead, it is explained away as discipline, necessity, patience, or sacrifice. Over time, endurance itself becomes proof that authority is legitimate. The more pain people learn to tolerate, the stronger power appears.

The Workplace: Endurance as Obedience

In the workplace, power is not only exercised through contracts and job descriptions, but through exhaustion. Employees stay late without notice. Salaries delay. Conditions worsen. Complaints are swallowed because jobs are scarce. What keeps the system running is not agreement, but fear of loss.

Here, suffering becomes a currency. The worker who endures the most is often praised as loyal or hardworking, while resistance is labeled laziness or ingratitude. Power shows itself in the ability to demand discomfort and still receive compliance.

Politics: When Hardship Becomes Normal

In political life, suffering often masquerades as patriotism. Long queues, broken systems, rising costs, and unfulfilled promises are endured because citizens are told that things will improve tomorrow. The state’s power lies not in solving problems, but in convincing people to survive them quietly.

When hardship becomes routine, authority no longer needs to justify itself. The endurance of the population becomes evidence that control is intact. Silence, not satisfaction, is mistaken for consent.

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Family and Tradition: Power in the Name of Love

Within families, suffering is frequently disguised as care. Strict control, emotional pressure, and unquestioned obedience are defended as “for your own good.” Children are taught early that pain is a necessary part of respect.

Here, power survives by redefining suffering as virtue. The child who questions authority is rebellious; the one who endures is mature. Over time, obedience becomes internalized, and power no longer needs force to maintain itself.

Religion and Belief Systems

Many belief systems glorify suffering as a path to growth or reward. Fasting, deprivation, silence, and submission are framed as spiritual discipline. While faith can offer meaning, power emerges when suffering is demanded without room for questioning.

When pain is presented as holy, authority becomes untouchable. The ability to define suffering as righteousness is one of the strongest forms of power because it transforms obedience into belief.

Education: Discipline Over Dignity

In schools, students endure overcrowded classrooms, humiliation, fear, and rigid discipline. Questioning authority is discouraged. Endurance is praised. The system measures success not only by grades, but by how well students conform.

Here, suffering is normalized as preparation for life. Power is reinforced when discomfort is accepted as necessary rather than challenged as avoidable.

Relationships: Silent Suffering

In personal relationships, power imbalance is often quiet. One partner controls emotions, finances, or decisions, while the other adjusts, tolerates, and excuses. Love becomes a reason to endure pain.

Suffering persists because walking away feels more frightening than staying. Power exists wherever one person can cause emotional harm without consequence.

The Dangerous Normalization of Pain

The most effective power does not need to threaten. It waits. It relies on routine. When suffering becomes normal, resistance feels abnormal. People begin to believe that pain is simply how life works.

This is why suffering is such a reliable measure of power. It reveals who can impose discomfort, who must endure it, and who benefits from the silence that follows.

A Quiet Truth

Power does not always announce itself. Sometimes it sits comfortably in patience, endurance, and acceptance. Sometimes it hides behind words like discipline, tradition, faith, or hard work. But wherever suffering is demanded and justified rather than questioned, power has already succeeded.

The real danger is not suffering itself, but the moment people stop asking why they are suffering, and for whom.

28 December