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Film vs. Authority
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16324 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
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3 / 1989 |
7,433 Words |
| Author
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J.R. Dunn
J.R. Dunn is editor of The Contrarian and writes often on the
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A few years ago, a new slogan appeared on buttons, bumper stickers, T-shirts, and the like. Short, blunt, usually in bold print, it jumped out at the reader with the force of a direct order: QUESTION AUTHORITY.
Certainly, if any social force has taken a beating in this century it is authority. The symptoms are everywhere: the scorn shown officials of any sort, the decay of public institutions, the decline of trust in all levels of government, even the shift in meaning of such words as fascist, which is now a term of general opprobrium. The power of authority figures, from the cop on the beat to the president, has lost much of its former legitimacy.
Indeed for the past quarter-century, every president--with the partial exception of Ronald Reagan--has experienced an erosion of his authority, and in politics in general the concept of authority has been replaced with that of "popularity," as measured by polls and the offhand comments of newsmen.
The causes of this massive social change are many, but the problem largely has been caused by a confusion between two forms of authority, natural and bureaucratic. Natural, or innate, authority is an abstract quality inherent in certain individuals, while bureaucratic authority is derived from office. In some cultures, a distinction was made between the two forms: in Latin, for example, two different words were used: auctoritas for natural authority and potestas for bureaucratic. In the modern world this distinction has vanished, and with it any perceived difference between authority as a necessary social force as opposed to that of a passing bureaucratic nature.
Disrespect for bureaucratic authority is a well-known American trait, evident throughout our history from the original settlement through the Revolution and the westward migration. The urge to "get out from under," to defy petty regulations and act as one's own master has been a noble and valuable part of the American character. Unfortunately in our century, extremists have regarded this trait as a license permitting them to attack all form of authority whether natural or bureaucratic.
One of the basic ideas of the liberal Left is that authority is inherently evil. It inherited this concept from the anarchists and syndicalists of the nineteenth century, who held that man was naturally good and only governments and social hierarchies barred the creation of a just society. This notion gained acceptance within American
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