It’s a good quote, but it’s not a replacement for “power corrupts” because a shift from calling an action immoral to not calling that action immoral doesn’t in itself equal corruption. “Power” / “being able to afford something” can be concomitant with “is now commonly available” / “newly invented technology”, and such a gradual shift of society to accept the new status quo wouldn’t typically be perceived as corruption.
Example: Someone who thinks of new anti-aging technologies (whose price points are gradually dropping) as immoral, then—upon being able to afford them—thinks of them as immoral no longer hasn’t necessarily been corrupted, but may have simply been incentivized to dwell upon the matter more thoroughly.
It’s a good quote, but it’s not a replacement for “power corrupts” because a shift from calling an action immoral to not calling that action immoral doesn’t in itself equal corruption. “Power” / “being able to afford something” can be concomitant with “is now commonly available” / “newly invented technology”, and such a gradual shift of society to accept the new status quo wouldn’t typically be perceived as corruption.
Example: Someone who thinks of new anti-aging technologies (whose price points are gradually dropping) as immoral, then—upon being able to afford them—thinks of them as immoral no longer hasn’t necessarily been corrupted, but may have simply been incentivized to dwell upon the matter more thoroughly.