How power corrupts - in Kabul, London, Washington, and everywhere

LINK to Guardian article, How power corrupts in Kabul, by Alex de Waal
An excellent article, which should give us long pause for thought, not just about Afghan society, but primarily about our own, which is also held together by forms of patronage, coercion and the institutionalized lies and self-deception, developed over centuries, they are rationalized and concealed behind.
In order to get a handle on this, however, we have to view our own nature and the social, political and economic power structures it has given rise to from a Darwinian perspective.
The reason we are so reluctant to do so, why there are such massive taboos preventing it, is because it will necessarily undermine the political and economic order we are all currently dependent on (especially those in wealth, power and privilege, which, to a greater or lesser extent, includes most of us), but unless we do, there can be no realistic understanding of our situation, and no thus hope of remedying it.
Recognising the lies and self-deceptions on which our own society is based need not scare us as much as we subconsciously assume it will, thus prevent ourselves from doing so. The social, political and economic structures based on them will need to remain in place until, peacefully and grassroots-democratically, we have created viable (rational, humane and sustainable) alternatives.