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I enjoyed your post. Tolkien understood well the human pursuit of power, how it can compromise and eventually enslave even those who start out with good purposes.

The more you rely on ends justifying the means, the more like the left you become, the more capable of abandoning other principles you become.

Then one day, when you finally ascend the pinnacle of power, you may find you have left all principles behind, and are reduced to the naked pursuit of even more power, and are at risk of becoming as much an oppressor as your predecessor.

This is, IMHO, the most likely meaning of the “ring of power,” hiding in plain sight. The temptation to power is so great, that even good men and women will sell off bits and pieces of their soul as necessary to get it, all the while justifying their avarice and cruelty because their intentions are good. But as we all know, that road paved with good intentions does not end well.