Authority

According to Merriam Webster the definition of "authority" is: power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior.

I was lead to write and talk about the idea that there is a myth that governments have authority because of a video attributed to The Myth of Authority (The Most Dangerous Superstition) - Larken Rose'.

The truth is most taxpayers are not law abiding.

Larken video stated that authority is only the right to do bad things.

The Myth of Authority

“Civilizations are not mandated by authorities, nor are they the products of systemic planning. People did not get together and say to one another “hey, let’s start a civilization!” Such cultures have been, rather, the unintended consequences arising from the interplay of creative forces that sustain and enhance life. ” – Butler Shaffer “The Wizards of Ozymandias”

Those forces are first of the spirit.

SAVOY article

Ends with “ I owe nobody that which I have not voluntarily agreed to give, I owe you only non-aggression.” savoy

Talks about “Social Contract”

Talks about  “the authority granted to that government by the citizens to protect these natural rights."

What of other spirits of authority granted by the people?

“Does the use of authority provide those which it is enacted on a benefit? Is there a value to authority? If societies did not grant authority to a group of individuals would this society collapse into chaos? “savoy

"I’d like to challenge the paradigm of dependency on authority firstly by asking this question; from where is the State’s authority derived?" Savoy

Was the Constitution and its authority granted to that government by the citizens?

“ No, government issues a government contract  “ savoy

“The real destroyers of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations, and benefits.”Plutarch

Antifederalist papers Number 6, Under the pseudonym, “CENTINEL,” States “The evils of anarchy have been portrayed with all the imagery of language in the growing colors of eloquence; the affrighted mind is thence led to clasp the new Constitution as the instrument of deliverance, as the only avenue to safety and happiness. To avoid the possible and transitory evils of one extreme, it is seduced into the certain and permanent misery necessarily attendant on the other.”

“ We are witnessing a decline of empire.”  savoy

“ I owe nobody that which I have not voluntarily agreed to give, I owe you only non-aggression.” savoy

Polybius "The masses continue with an appetite for benefits and the habit of receiving them by way of a rule of force and violence. The people, having grown accustomed to feed at the expense of others and to depend for their livelihood on the property of others... institute the rule of violence; and now uniting their forces massacre, banish, and plunder, until they degenerate again into perfect savages and find once more a master and monarch."

“But who would make the laws?”  without government??

How many laws do you need?

Tacitus said the more laws the more corrupt the people.

Would ten laws be enough?

The Myth of Leadership

The Myth of Leadership is a business book written by former Brigham Young University lecturer Jeffrey Nielsen

Professor Nielsen argues that we frequently use the words leader and leadership metaphorically to refer to some talent or skill that is needed, which use does little damage as well as little good. However he adds, when we use the words formally to designate officially someone as leader or some position as leadership, then we create unhealthy and deleterious organizational and community relationships.

As soon as we formally designate a leader, Nielsen argues, we create within the organization a dichotomy, two groups, to one we assign duties, and to the other we assign privileges. We confer unique and powerful privileges upon the few leaders and specify numerous duties to be obeyed by the many followers. The followers, the vast majority, are consigned to an inferior status, even to be sacrificed, if needs be, to preserve and protect the power and privilege of those designated as leaders – whether through layoffs, war, tax cuts, or even welfare reform. To the leaders, the elite few, we grant the rights and privileges to command and control the vast resources, most importantly the information and decision-making power. There are no exceptions to this split between the privileged few and the burdened many – it will occur, Nielsen believes, in any and every organization that formally designates individuals as leaders and positions as leadership positions.

Just as soon as we call someone the leader, Nielsen says we have created a rank-based context that defines power as “power-over", even to the extent of coercion and manipulation; authority as the right to exercise power in a command and control manner; and hierarchy as the means of transmission of authority from the top down through privileged delegation. There is no way to avoids this. It is inevitable. Professor Nielsen relates it to what Michel Foucault would call the discourse formation of the concept of leadership, and it is what Stephen Austin would call the speech act of leader. Wikipedia