Many evacuations in the twentieth century aroused the sympathy of external groups and interests. Those in Wales, where English corporations decided to create reservoirs and the War of Office requisitioned Mynydd Epynt, were seen as major insults to traditional Welsh culture. Welsh nationalists worked strenuously to resist them. Regrettably for them, the methods of opposition at their disposal, in the form of public demonstrations, petitions, and delegations to senior politicians, were relatively ineffective, and the evacuations went ahead.
Other research has started to provide information about how people change when they occupy positions of power or when they are obliged to yield to power. We now have evidence that can help us answer the question whether it is indeed the case that all power tends to corrupt. It is clear that the personal consequences for those in subordinate positions mirror the effects on those who wield power. The former tend to become more apathetic and pessimistic, or else may become hostile, angry, and rebellious. On the other hand, people in power are likely to become more confident and willing to take risks. They develop a cognitive bias according to which they pay more attention to expected rewards than possible punitive outcomes. Their perception of their own abilities and commitment to their values tend to be enhanced, while at the same time they may display increasingly negative attitudes towards those over whom they hold power.
See Keltner D, Gruenfeld D, & Anderson C P, Power, approach, and inhibition, Psychological Review, 2003, 110, 265-284.
The findings of this research are relevant to abandonments that took place over a period of time. Again, Milton may be a good example. In such situations it is likely that strong resentment between the landlord and tenants would have built up. At the same time, however, the landlord may have grown increasingly confident of achieving a successful outcome, while the tenants tended to become more pessimistic until they resigned themselves to having to move out.
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