Today I rewatched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and one line jumped out like never before. As Voldemort tempts Harry to join him, he hisses:

"There is no good and evil. There is only power, and those too weak to seek it."

As a child, this sounded like generic villain talk. As an adult, it sounds disturbingly familiar. We've heard versions of this creed everywhere in modern discourse – from the relativistic theories taught in certain university courses to the cynicism of online culture wars. Power, we're told, is the real currency. Morality is just a social construct. Truth is relative. "Good" and "evil" are outdated metaphysical categories.

This is precisely Voldemort's worldview.

The Seduction of Power-Reductionism

Reducing everything to "power" is tempting because it simplifies a messy world. Postmodern thinkers from Foucault to Derrida have argued that institutions, ideas, and even truths are shaped by power relations. There's some insight here – of course power influences culture. But when everything is reinterpreted as power, moral language collapses.

Here's a classic line that rings true: If there's no "good" and "evil," then what separates Martin Luther King Jr. from Joseph Stalin? If justice is just another mask for domination, why sacrifice for others? A culture built entirely on cynicism produces cynics, not citizens.

The Consequences of Moral Relativism

We're already seeing what happens when moral absolutes are undermined. Societies fracture. Trust erodes. Communities splinter into warring identity groups, each claiming victimhood or dominance. Without shared moral reference points, persuasion becomes impossible – only coercion remains.

Religious morality, with all its flaws, at least anchors a society in transcendent values. Postmodernism has eroded those anchors. Many Americans are floating without a moral compass – a situation ripe for manipulation.

Weaponized Ideas?

Here's the uncomfortable question: what if some of these ideas are not just accidental trends, but intentional weapons? The Soviet Union famously promoted disinformation and ideological subversion to destabilize Western nations. What better way to weaken a country than to convince its youth that truth and morality are illusions, that only power matters?

Whether or not today's relativism is a deliberate "psy-op," its effects are the same: a nation losing confidence in itself, its institutions, its principles, and in the very distinction between good and evil. Personally, I think its psychological warfare. Historically, ideas that require the silencing of others promote revolution, not peace. They are tinder that, when sparked, ignite genocidal violence. Sure seems like the sorts of tactics our foreign enemies would be dedicating resources to… tactics such as bot farming, social engineering and other forms of manipulation. Of course they're doing it. Obviously, they are.

Choosing Good Over Power

Harry's rejection of Voldemort's offer is the moral heart of the story. He chooses love and loyalty over power. He chooses to fight for what's right even when he's outmatched. That's the antidote to cynicism. That's what builds a civilization.

We can't save a culture by outplaying the cynics at their own power games. We save it by rebuilding our moral foundations, by teaching our children that good and evil do exist, and that some things are worth sacrificing for.