Power-Reciprocity: A New Philosophy for Human Coexistence
BY: OMOLAJA MAKINEE
For centuries, societies have pursued the dream of equality—equal rights, equal opportunity, equal power. Yet every generation arrives at the same painful realisation: power cannot be equalised. It can be distributed, limited, regulated, or shared, but it cannot be made equal in reality. Why?
Because power is not a substance that can be portioned out like water or wealth. It is a dynamic, an interaction, a living force that thrives on imbalance. Power, by its nature, seeks expression, influence, and direction. And the moment it is expressed, it creates hierarchy, tension, and divergence.
This is why every attempt at power-equality—whether political, religious, familial, economic, or interpersonal—has collapsed back into stratification. The problem is not the people. The problem is the model.
What society truly needs is not power-equality, but power-reciprocity.
1. What Is Power-Reciprocity?
I asked a simple question: What is power-reciprocity?
Before I tell you what power-reciprocity is, I must first tell you what it isn’t. “Power-reciprocity” is not the same as “Reciprocity of Power”. Because reciprocity of power merely describes an exchange—each party giving and receiving power as a commodity—while power-reciprocity describes a condition. It is the ethical geometry in which power circulates without domination, where each participant remains empowered because others are empowered. Reciprocity of power measures transactions; power-reciprocity measures equilibrium. The former is arithmetic, the latter is philosophy.
Power-reciprocity is the principle that power must flow in mutual exchange, not in dominance or in forced equality. It is the idea that each party in a system—whether individual, group, institution, or spiritual entity—must give and receive power proportionally, ethically, and sustainably. It aligns with the ancient rhythm of Ma’at: balance, relational justice, and cosmic order.
Power-reciprocity accepts that:
- Power must exist.
- Power must be exercised.
- Power will never be equal.
- But power can be reciprocal.
Reciprocal power is not symmetrical; it is relational. It recognises that every interaction—between citizens and State, employer and worker, parent and child, priest and seeker, soul and body—must contain an exchange, not a domination.
When reciprocity is broken, systems collapse into tyranny, exploitation, or spiritual decay.
2. Why Power-Equality Is a Misconception
The modern world is built upon a noble but flawed assumption: that justice is achieved when everyone holds equal power. But three truths make this impossible:
A. Power Is Functional, Not Numerical
Power emerges from roles, responsibilities, capacities, and potencies—not from the desire to distribute it evenly. A surgeon holds power in a hospital. A pilot holds power in a cockpit. A priest holds power in a ritual space. A child cannot hold the same power as an adult because they do not have the same equal capacity, memory, or responsibility.
Equalising power between people with different inner potencies collapses every system into dysfunction.
B. Power Exists Only Through Exchange
Power is like electricity—it flows or it dies. In trying to make power equal, societies often freeze power, denying its natural movement. The result is hidden hierarchies, underground influence, and distortions of authority.
True justice arises not when power is flat, but when power flows transparently, ethically, and reciprocally.
C. Equal Power Does Not Produce Equal Outcomes
Even if every human was given the same rights, wealth, and influence, their choices, inner potency, burdens, karmic paths, and soul memory will produce different outcomes. Some are born leaders; some are born healers; some are born to learn humility; some are born to fulfil karmic debts. Power follows purpose. And purpose is never the same for all.
3. The Philosophy of Power-Reciprocity
Power-reciprocity begins with one foundational truth:
No system is truly just unless power given is balanced by duty received.
This applies everywhere:
A. In Governance
Citizens give legitimacy, and State returns protection, justice, and transparency.
State gives authority, and citizens return responsibility, civic duty, and ethical obedience.
When one side takes more than it gives, collapse begins.
B. In Religion
Believers give devotion, and spiritual institutions must return guidance, truth, and moral clarity.
Priests carry power, but they must exchange it for humility, service, and accountability.
When priesthood demands power without reciprocity, corruption becomes inevitable.
C. In Relationships
Love, trust, labour, sacrifice, emotional support, and respect must flow in both directions. The moment one party becomes a sinkhole—only receiving, never giving—imbalance destroys the union.
D. In Economics
Workers exchange time, and employers provide wages and dignity.
Consumers pay money, and businesses must return quality and fairness.
Economy collapses when the flow becomes one-sided.
E. In the Soul–Body Relationship
This is the deepest truth of all.
The soul gives destiny, memory, and eternal continuity. The body gives pleasure, survival, and experience. When one dominates the other—whether asceticism (soul domination) or hedonism (body domination)—suffering emerges. Only reciprocity gives harmony.
4. Why Power-Reciprocity Is the Missing Key in Human Civilisation
Every major human crisis stems from power imbalance:
- Political oppression.
- Religious extremism.
- Patriarchy and gender conflict.
- Economic exploitation.
- Racism and tribalism.
- Spiritual stagnation.
- Generational trauma.
- Institutional corruption.
- Mental health collapse.
- Ecological destruction.
These are not failures of morality alone—they are failures of power architecture.
We built societies on hierarchy without reciprocity, or equality without realism.
Power-reciprocity proposes a third path: a cosmically aligned model where power circulates like water—never stagnant, never hoarded, never forced into equality that defies nature.
5. What Power-Reciprocity Looks Like in Practice
A. Transparent Authority
Power holders must explain:
- What power they hold;
- Why they hold it;
- How it benefits others.
B. Ancestral Accountability
Power is not personal; it is ancestral, communal, and spiritual. Its use affects lineage memory and future karmic pathways.
C. Rotational Leadership
No one should sit permanently at the top. Roles change, but responsibility endures.
D. Rituals of Power Return
Communities should have cultural or spiritual mechanisms where leaders return power symbolically and ethically at intervals.
E. Protection of Vulnerable Potencies
Reciprocity ensures that the strong do not consume the weak. It protects those still developing their inner potency.
6. Why Power-Reciprocity Is the Only Sustainable Future
We are in a global crisis of meaning, spirituality, and governance. Old religions fail to manage the soul–body conflict. Modern States fail to control inequality. Families fail to manage generational burdens. Communities fail to maintain harmony. But in every crisis lies a truth:
Humanity does not need equality of power. Humanity needs power-reciprocity.
A world built on power-reciprocity will not aim to make everyone identical. Instead, it will respect difference, honour potency, protect vulnerability, and ensure that every exchange—material, emotional, spiritual, or political—remains balanced.
This philosophy aligns human law with cosmic law. It mirrors the soul world’s structure. It restores Ma’at as the foundation of civilisation.
Conclusion
Power is not the enemy. Inequality is not the enemy. Non-reciprocal power is the enemy.
Power-reciprocity does not eliminate hierarchy—it sanctifies it. It does not demand sameness—it demands fairness. It does not abolish authority—it purifies it. In a world longing for justice, harmony, and meaning, power-reciprocity is not merely a philosophy. It is a roadmap, a spiritual blueprint, and a return to cosmic order.
If humanity is to survive the coming era of spiritual, governmental, and ecological reckoning, it will be through this principle—not through equalising power, but through balancing it.
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