What do you think of authority?

A big issue in society today is authority. Authority being abused, used to get control, etc. I'm curious what you guys think of authority in general.

Personally for me, authority falls into two categories of people: secure and insecure.

Insecure authority:
Authority figure that is unsure of their own position, or use it to control

Ex. I had this one teacher who was a first year teacher. Needless to say, she was very new, but wanted control of the classroom. So what she did was to overreact to situations to try to show her authority. One time i was reading a book and she stopped class to yell at me for 5 minutes. What she didn't understand is that it doesn't make her look strong, it makes her look like a moody, insecure, & confused figure, and isn't respected much by other people in the class



Secure authority:
Authority that has set boundaries and is confident in their own position

Ex. There is another teacher at school who substitutes sometimes. She has strict rules. We must be working, not talking, facing forward, and not call out or get out of our seats, and is strict when it comes to leaving class. I was originally turned off by this, but once i learned to cooperate, i found leeway within the rigidity of her system. She would allow me to leave class more often, is more lenient when it comes to me getting out of my seat, or calling out. And what i really liked is that at the end of every class, she goes around and thanks those who cooperated.



Secure authority is the one authority i like, especially in the example above. It is efficient and rewarding at the same time, while also being fair and just. Unfortunately, our society today is dominated by 'insecure' authority.

What do you guys think about authority? What is your opinion?


[edit on 16-4-2010 by mossme89]

I don't need authourity.

I am respectful to everyone who is respectful to me, and i like to mind my own business.

Mostly though, i have a problem with authority because too often, those that have it, are a bunch of lowlife bloodsucking sycophants.

I have a very strong anti-authoritarian streak.

Being gay, governments, religions & bigots have always been antagonistic to flat out violent towards me, so i return the favor.

If people are civil one tries to return it in kind.

Real command of intellect should under many circumstances simply require that the facts be explained to some other relatively intelligent person to find their concurrence or at least alternate insights.

Authority is often the infliction of some form of ignorance & stupidity for the sake of privileged stupid ignorant people.

It tends to be an obsession with stark, banal, binary flattening to some suffocating rigidity. It is invariably arbitrary, external, synthetic & foolish logic. It ignores intrinsic, organic self-organizing paradigms.

It tends to be alienating & self-obsessed rather than responsively integrated.

Authority is usually inflicted by psychologically damaged people.
What they can not manage with/for themselves they try to 'make up for' by inflicting on [unwilling] others.

It is a little scary at times, but giving other people room to exercise their autonomy can often produce amazing results.
Liberty & democracy.
The core of the most powerful economies on the planet.

I don't mind authority if it is loving guidance and accepted responsibility they give and take.

Simple as that.

When its not, that's where the problems arise.

That it's mostly BS!

Real authority has to be earned and voluntarily accepted. Anything else is theft, force, and coercion. For instance if I want to learn Spanish I find a good Spanish teacher and voluntarily accept him as an authority on Spanish I can learn from.

All government authority is BS! As long as I am not oppressing or harming anyone no group of thugs calling themselves government even if they are my neighbors have any authority or right to tell me what to do period. And I have every right to defend myself against such coercion of necassary!

In a perfect world, there should be no need for authority, only teamwork and freedom and education.

Maybe someday humans can grow to a point of understanding where they work out of love and not by force and greed.

When it comes to kids it might be a little more complicated, im not sure if you could teach them without authority, they always want to test their limits and might endanger themselfs, so there might be some authority needed.

But as you said, there is a difference between authoritys.

Personally i always hated authority, and i hate it the most when the person that wants authority over me can't even give me a logical explanation why i should follow his/her orders. I value freedom very highly. If we all just follow the dumb sheep/wolf without questioning authoritys, we cannot grow.

[edit on 16-4-2010 by Nightflower]

I guess it is the difference between some forced, external, imposed 'authority', which is arguably inherently fraudulent, synthetic, with god knows what intent or likely results,

And some kind of implicit, organic fact of existence, which certainly doesn't need our complicity.

We are embedded in reality. Trying to impose some sterilized, inorganic notions upon it are most often unsustainable & collapse as fast as their artificiality is exposed.

If you are going to try to create some artificial extension of reality, the more it respects the underlying substrate the longer it is likely to persist & the better it co-opts the energies & materials of pre-existing conditions.

Intelligent artificiations dove-tail better with reality. It is like learning to swim or fly, you have to know/feel/understand the medium through which you navigate.

Instead of rejecting one's context arbitrarily, one does better to consider treating it as one's starting medium.

The sign of a refined mind is the ability to discern really delicate, subtle departures from context.

The truth is i reject YOUR authority, mine i hope all will acquiesce to without a whisper of disruption.
i am after all the phantom.

I respect authority that is informative or provides security without prejudice.

I despise authority that is unneccessary, ignorant or egotistical.

If you rock my boat it better be because it's on fire, otherwise I will use my flailing oars for balance and you better not get in the way.

An authority just makes stuff up and asks or forces you to play along with them. That's how their power "game" works.

In the society I live in, I don't have respect for most "authorities" and don't agree with what they're making up.

reply to post by mossme89


Authority. I dislike all authority but I think this is my nature and that of most people.
That said, I am a follower. I know this about myself. I look for the leader and follow them. If there is no one willing to take the initiative and step into a vacant leadership role I will quickly jump into it - rather than see a bad situation get worse. When a better leader shows up I step back and assist.
Assistants have more freedom. And they are not the ones responsible if anything goes wrong.

But in an odd way authority figures (when I have the choice) must earn the right to lead me. I won't follow just anyone. Who to follow?
I let my heart move my feet.

Authority figures must also recognize their authority over me is my choice and not theirs. Then I can be a real team player.

Everyone is not made for leadership, some are born for it... but neither should anyone be shortchanged or deprived, because of a cooperative and agreeable nature.

My philosophy on authority in the societal sense is...

The presence of authority changes things before any act from the authority.
A mall cop or duty officer standing at a Walgreens or CVS, diffuses the idea that there is an opportunity to commit a crime.
A highway patrol does not even need to be awake in his/her patrol car on the side of the interstate to be policing the speed of traffic, people will slow down the second they see the vehicle.

As long as there is rules there will be authority.

I've been around military authority, and I will say the number one thing I dislike about authority is that the person with the authoritative power does not need to negotiate their authority if they don't want to. This creates ego driven or power crazed individuals to take advantage of it by not communicating for an eclectic solution. Its their way or the highway!


[edit on 17-4-2010 by juveous]

reply to post by mossme89


Basically, I don't like authority figures.

Although I realise the need for authority figures, a lot seem to overstep the mark.

I have never liked being told what to do or what not to do by anyone, and that is just human nature.

But authority figurers who go too far....grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Personal power wins out over positional power every day of the week in every sphere of influence.

Except maybe where people have powerful buttons in cyberspace!

I judge the person, not the title. I've always been this way.

I could come off as disrespectful, or rude to someone who thinks that their title gives them "blind, automatic respect" from anyone.

It's actions, and behaviour that affects how I will treat you, and I naturally expect everyone to keep this in mind when talking to me.

I don't mind authority if it is loving guidance and accepted responsibility they give and take.

Simple as that.

When its not, that's where the problems arise.

That's exactly right...I don't really like our current system of authority, because all the people that have authority don't deserve to have it, and they just abuse their power for evil and greedy reasons. Therefore, I have no authority figure I look up to, I see not one single man on this Earth worthy of telling another what to do. I look up, not even to God...because if there is a God, the last thing it would want you to do, is idolize it, and it wouldn't write a book called the bible with a large emphasis on being loyal to your one and only Lord whom you shall never question or disobey, otherwise risking eternal suffering. It's merely manipulation and brainwashing, used by the people in power so that they may get more power. That's all it is, that's all any authoritative system in our modern society does. They don't care about you, even though they may act like they do. Your own Government doesn't care about you, they suck you dry of every last thing they can, slowly over time like a leech, so that before long, you've got no rights or freedoms left, nor the energy or motivation to get them back...and what started as teachers and students, became authority and citizens, and finally master and slave.

[edit on 17/4/10 by CHA0S]

There is no such thing as authority. I don't have an answer to your question because it doesn't exist.

There are rules, but that is not the same as authority. There can be consequences for your actions, but there is no authority. A cop can lock you up for commiting a crime, but that is a consequence, not authority.

reply to post by CHA0S


Ok, just a thought , why dont you stand for the government?

reply to post by catwhoknows

Ok, just a thought , why dont you stand for the government?

Because they don't stand for me. Hope I answered that correctly.

[edit on 17/4/10 by CHA0S]

Originally posted by broahes
There is no such thing as authority. I don't have an answer to your question because it doesn't exist.

There are rules, but that is not the same as authority. There can be consequences for your actions, but there is no authority. A cop can lock you up for commiting a crime, but that is a consequence, not authority.

authority is the power the cop has to lock you up for committing the crime. authority "authorizes" your punishment, your consequence. without it there is no justification for regulating behavior. You may want everyone to willingly cooperate to understand what they should and shouldn't do, but that is unrealistic when it comes to stabilizing this society.

Originally posted by juveous

Originally posted by broahes
There is no such thing as authority. I don't have an answer to your question because it doesn't exist.

There are rules, but that is not the same as authority. There can be consequences for your actions, but there is no authority. A cop can lock you up for commiting a crime, but that is a consequence, not authority.

authority is the power the cop has to lock you up for committing the crime. authority "authorizes" your punishment, your consequence. without it there is no justification for regulating behavior. You may want everyone to willingly cooperate to understand what they should and shouldn't do, but that is unrealistic when it comes to stabilizing this society.

He enforces a consequence of breaking the rule, not the same as authority (to me anyway).. I mean he can't make me not break the rule. He has power, but no authority.

It's not about what I want others to do, or not do.. they will do, and that is why there is no authority.