Drunk on Power, Money, or Booze—Does It Change Us or Show Who We Are?

Power, money, and alcohol—are they corrupting forces, or do they simply strip away the masks we wear?

We’ve all heard the saying: Alcohol doesn’t make you an asshole; it reveals the asshole you’ve been hiding. When inhibitions drop, the suppressed parts of ourselves—anger, bitterness, resentment—come pouring out. Yet, so many people blame the booze instead of acknowledging that the darkness was already there, lurking beneath the surface. Some people handle their liquor fine. Others turn into animals. That’s not the bottle’s fault.

Money works the same way. When someone has financial security, they no longer need to play along to keep people around. Take a guy who’s been your “friend” for years—maybe because he benefited from your expertise, your skills, or a “friend price” when he needed work done. But the second he wins the lottery? He disappears, because he no longer needs you. Money didn’t change him. It freed him from the necessity of maintaining the illusion.

And then there’s power. Is it corrupting by nature? Or does it work just like money and alcohol, peeling away the disguise and exposing what was always there?

Look at what happened to Robert Brooks, an inmate at Marcy Correctional Facility in New York. Nine correctional officers beat him to death. He was restrained, shackled, and posed no threat. And yet, they killed him. Why? Maybe mob mentality played a role. But at its core, this was about power—the belief that they could do it and get away with it. That their authority made them untouchable.

And most of the time, they are untouchable. We’ve seen it before—cops, judges, prosecutors, bankers, politicians. The system protects itself and those who serve it, as long as they pose no threat to the larger machine.

So, does power change people? Or does it simply remove the constraints that once forced them to play nice?

The same person who shook your hand yesterday might be the one writing you off tomorrow if they no longer need you. The same officer who chats casually with a citizen one day might be the one cracking a skull the next, depending on whether he thinks he can get away with it.

People like to say, That would never be me. But are you sure? How much of who we think we are is just the version of ourselves that circumstances require us to be?

Money, power, alcohol—all of them strip away the social filters. They remove the necessity of politeness, obligation, and compromise. Power and wealth grant new options, meaning people no longer have to tolerate situations they previously endured out of necessity. And alcohol? It dulls the filter, letting out what was always lurking beneath.

We like to believe it’s the thing itself that corrupts, because that lets us off the hook. If power, money, and alcohol are what change people, then we don’t have to look in the mirror.

But maybe we should.

Because if we did, we might have to face the rotten bastard staring back at us.

Let those who have ears, hear. Let those with power tremble.

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