this sysiphean task

Clausewitz wrote that war is politics by other means (On War, 1873).
Michel Foucault added this twist: Power is war. And while just saying it doesn't make it true, I would suggest that this is true even if it is benevolent exercise of power. The exertion of my power to effect changes necessarily imposes those changes on another with or without their consent. On some level, one can see that as warfare.

When I use non-violent means to exercise my power, one could call that politics. If politics is the exercise of power, is not politics warfare too? On a continuum of possible acts of war, political negotiations move toward war as they break down. However, as Foucault says, while political power may bring an end to war, the cessation of warfare does not neutralize the disequilibrium revealed in the final battle of war. He argues that the relations of power in our society are established in the moment of decisive battle, and that then sets the stage for the parties' relations for some time after.

Therefore, he says the role of political power is to reinscribe the relation between the once-warring parties, through unspoken warfare: in social institutions, economic inequalities, in language, in the bodies of the parties. (Foucault, Two Lectures in Power/Knowledge 90, 1980)

But this is a dismal point of view, especially if accurate. What meaning then when the rich and powerful speak of doing good? What does this say about the lofty goal of ending poverty, of providing equal opportunities to the disadvantaged, to give means to raise oneself up? Is this just a token effort to assuage a conscience, to keep up appearances, to make oneself a charitable being in the eyes of others? Is it impossible ever for a group of humans to achieve some gestalt for more than the briefest of moments?

I've heard it said that where there are 3 or more people gathered, there are politics. This means there is warfare on some level as well. There is a power balancing, or an out-and-out struggle for it, and this is both politics, and a kind of warfare.

Why then do we try to get it right? It seems a Sysiphean task after all.