I believe that what he’s saying is that with power, people show their true colors. Consciously or not, nice people may have been nice because it benefitted them to. The fact that there were too many penalties for not being nice when they didn’t have as much power was a “corruption” of their behavior, in a sense. With the power they gained, the penalties didn’t matter enough compared to the benefits.
I don’t understand your second sentence.
I believe that what he’s saying is that with power, people show their true colors. Consciously or not, nice people may have been nice because it benefitted them to. The fact that there were too many penalties for not being nice when they didn’t have as much power was a “corruption” of their behavior, in a sense. With the power they gained, the penalties didn’t matter enough compared to the benefits.
Wow, you’re really good at interpreting cryptic sentences!
I think “Elementary, dear Watson” was in order ;)