Authority

“As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely upon authority, there is no end to our troubles.” ~Bertrand Russell

Children are indoctrinated from their earliest conscience moments that authority comes from the State. Their parents, family members, teachers, and other adults they look up to all refer to those in government as “The Authorities.” “The authorities have issued a curfew,” “Authorities are on the lookout for a man,” “Authorities say that.” From the start their minds are impressed with the idea that they need authorization from the State, but where does this supposed authority really come from?

The politicians will tell you that voting authorizes the government to do what it does. That their authority comes from the people. But how do the people give politicians authority they don’t have to give in the first place? Nobody has authority to impose a tax on their neighbors every month with the excuse that it’s for the benefit of the community or public affairs. To insist that they pay “their fair share” and if they refuse, to send men with guns to collect. That’s extortion. Armed robbery by definition.

But if someone wins an election and becomes a member of the city council, State legislature, or Congress, now they somehow have the authority to do exactly those sorts of things? Where did this authority magically come from? Thin air? The other side of the rainbow? God? Nobody has such authority over others regardless what their excuse for claiming it is. Those are just more mob tactics. The mob is infamous for collecting “protection money” from the community to protect the community. And if you refuse to pay “your fair share” they can’t guarantee your protection, namely from them.

The idea of the government’s authority coming from the people takes a turn for the dark side when it comes to war. Murder is immoral and wrong, unless the State does it “lawfully.” Unless the State decides that killing is okay in the name of national security—whatever they decide that means. But it’s really the people who are waging the war, the people are responsible for it, the people authorized it because they voted for the representatives who speak for them. So it’s the same as if the people made the decision themselves to bomb Pakistan with remote controlled drones. If you’re going to be mad at anybody about the drone accidentally bombing a “Doctors without Borders” hospital and killing everyone in it, then you should be mad at yourself. After all, the democratically elected official that you voted for had his staffer vote “Yes” on your behalf while he was on the back nine. You can hardly hold him responsible for the collateral damage. He wasn’t even there.

See how sophisticatedly all the pieces fit together in a psychological matrix of romantic fables, clever misdirection, professional sophistry, and outright lies to create the desired nationalism and obedience to authority? A reality created specifically for you and continuously injected into your mind like a saline drip almost from birth. It’s a part of you now, like a birth defect that everyone pretends looks good on you but in truth it’s your ugliest feature and for which the truth is the only cure. You don’t even know it’s there anymore, but it rears its ugly head every time someone asks you a question and your response begins with “Legally.” Rinse and repeat.

The truth is there is no such thing as government authority. It’s an illusion. The only “authority” the State has resides at the end of the barrel of a gun. Ask any exiled despot if his authority was real or just a myth, a superstition that only lasted as long as his generals said it did. Legitimate authority comes from rights and a government has no rights, individuals have rights.

That’s not to say there aren’t those who will try and violate a person’s rights and challenge his authority over his life; but this is the exception, not the rule. Criminals exist—and it’s by acknowledging individual rights, self-ownership, and legitimate authority of the individual that we can identify the criminals. It’s by acknowledging individual rights, self-ownership, and legitimate authority that we can build businesses and employ and produce and trade and invent and innovate. It’s how economic progress is made and humanity evolves. Illegitimate authority of the State is the rule, not the exception. Ask yourself if you would voluntarily continue to pay taxes, fees, licenses, permits, etc. if they were not backed by the very real threat of State force for non-compliance. If the State said you could opt out of all their laws and regulations. Nobody in their right mind would give almost 40% of their income or more to the lying, conniving, manipulating politicians to waste if they weren’t forced to, because the truth is that nobody in their right mind recognizes the State’s authority to be legitimate. Not even those who say they do.

Does your boss have to carry a gun and threaten you with handcuffs, a taser, a beating, imprisonment, or death in order to get you to do your job, pay your share of the water cooler, or obey the rules of conduct in the office? Of course not. You recognize and respect his authority as the boss to make the daily business decisions regarding work schedules and tasks. If at any time he feels you’re not fulfilling his expectations he can fire you. If at any time you feel he’s a dick and the job sucks you can quit and look for work elsewhere. Nobody gets tased or beat down because they were rude or disrespectful. Nobody dies for something as benign as refusing to show ID. See how legitimate authority works? It’s a voluntary association. Government “authority” is nothing but force, period; you have no choice. And it is that continuous very real threat of force that invalidates their claim to authority at all.

Billions of people on the planet go to work every day, interact with each other respectfully and peacefully in millions of different ways, and acknowledge and respect the rights and authority of others. They do this not because of the government but despite it. Acknowledgement of and respect for legitimate authority is the foundation of all economic progress and peace. Government “authority” is the illusion that consumes an economy’s productivity, any chance for peace and people’s souls.