Why does ‘Y is in X’s power’ usually suggest that Y is in an unfortunate position and X in a morally dubious one? Partly, it is because the ordinary user of the word is more aware of the ‘patient’ aspect than social theorists seem to be, and primarily because these phrases say only that Y is subject to X, that X can get Y to do things that X wants him to do or that X can hurt Y. They say nothing about any rules that may limit that subjection, or about any purposes that may legitimate it, or about any contractual or quasi-contractual act of Y’s that constituted a voluntary institution of his relationship to X, or about any loyalties or affection between X and Y.

Xiii (1991: pp. 87–88). Suggested reading Needler, 1991: ch. Rose, 1974(b): pp. 527–530; Shils, 1975: pp. 276–303. 39 (1976: p. 11) And so say all of us, I suppose. Or almost all of us. 5D), authoritarian or libertarian. 18). For one thing, it can provoke the question ‘Right-oh. E. Moore’s (1903: pp. xxiv–xxvii and ch. ) But there is another thing that makes it interesting: it suggests a rough scale on which one can place opinions, one’s own and those of others. , it is used to complain about excessive or inappropriate uses of (or emphasis on) authority.

But that is not the full story of the strangeness of this thoroughly ordinary word. 6). Budget deficit notwithstanding, we must distribute the load between all sections of the community in a position to carry it. (Nolan, 1986) To render industrial processes free from pollution costs money; ultimately this cost is met by the community. (Tate, 1982) A community facility is one available to people in general. ‘The community’, in this sense, can be used interchangeably with ‘the taxpayer’: Tunnel cost blow-out: taxpayers face $1 bn bill A secret report into the economics of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel shows that the project is set to generate huge losses—estimated to cost the community in excess of $1 billion.