Power is always evil
Krishnamurti goes to the heart of our situation.
Power is always evil and it is this evil that corrupts society”. “Knowledge is mechanical and functional; knowledge, capacity, used to acquire status, breeds conflict, antagonism, envy. The cook and the ruler are functions and when status is stolen by either, then begin the quarrels, snobbery, and the worship of position, function and power. … The psychological importance of function breeds the hierarchy of status. To deny hierarchy is to deny status; there is hierarchy of function but not of status.”
Comments on Inequality 
So many believe that without the carrots of power and status nobody would strive for anything significant, and that great incentives are the prerequisites of great achievements. But this idea is flawed because it is used to justify inequality, conquest, despoliation of the earth and even genocide. Economically speaking, its practitioners win by internalizing the profits of their actions and externalizing the costs. Emile Zola analyzes this question in his wonderful book, “Money.”
I haven’t read ‘Money’ but it looks interesting. Reading the 1894 translator’s preface on Amazon, though, I found this troubling passage: “Whilst proving that money is the source of much evil, it (the book) also shows that it is the source of much good.” Wondering if that’s a fair synopsis ….
Researching Zola further, his work looks very interesting – thanks Kerry for the referral. I’ll start with Money. Have you read the entire Les Rougon-Macquart series?
It is not that power is evil but that the associated greed results in social injustice.