Tools corrupt us. Not only do we become dependent on them, but we start seeing and being through them. We become led by design. Paradoxically, as much as we love power, we also love to be led. This book is a collection of essays by students from the course “Design in Dark Times” at Parsons School of Design, The New School. The essays examine a series of “power-tools” – everyday objects that amplify and give power, but which also designate and orient such powers for certain ends. Design programs us. Through design, we become the tools of power.