The Treacherous Nature of Authority

First acknowledge The "mote" in our own eyes

Like many others I want to understand and talk with those on the other side of the partisan divide.  I have no problem enjoying their company on social occasions. Perhaps, I should accept this and let the rest alone. 

I worry, though, or should I say the political scientist side of me worries, when I can’t have serious conversations with friends and associates that admire Trump and get most of their information about the world from Fox news.  They are not stupid.  They are not selfish.  They are in the main loving, caring friends. 

Oh, I suppose we could find some rascals and con artists among the flock, or under a few rocks.  And there are a few mental cases on both sides of the divide.  But overall we’re good people and want to better understand what each is trying to say.

But we can’t. Or it’s difficult or we fail. Why?

Much of our mapping of the world comes from our own direct experience, but our “image” of what is distant from us, comes from the minds of others.  As we come to trust what they have to say, we accept them as authoritative.

Why?  Why trust some sources of information and not others? 

It’s a matter or habit and faith, although we don’t usually think about it this way.  And, we don’t really have a choice. If we want to have a view about many things, we have to accept the experiences of those that have been where we have not.

Growing up we learn lessons we seldom question.  Parents, clergy, teachers, coaches are our first authorities. In more tranquil times, this can unite rather than divide us. As a result we have often lived together somewhat peacefully and successfully. 

But we should never forget it is a question of trust. Authority is based on trust and when that trust is broken, we scramble to climb aboard other lifeboats in a dangerous sea.  Or as I have said in other blogs, facing a future that is coming at us very fast, and catching us unprepared, we panic. Some don’t go overboard. Some climb back on the mother ship. Others hang on to what they can.

Until we recognize the universality of this truth, that authority is a matter of habit and faith, we will lack sympathy for those who see the world differently. 

If we are to live successfully together, we need to have conversations about authority itself, only to recognize the limitations of our own certainties. We need to examine the sources of these “truths” and consider their limitations. I.e., do they apply to some circumstances and not others? Are they appropriate to changing times? Are they probabilities and, if so, how likely to be true? Are they part of an ongoing conversation between people who prioritize different values? Where did they come from? How widely are they believed? Are we missing important qualifications? And many other questions.

When we fail to ask these questions, we fail to see the inevitable risk we take believing, without reservation, our authorities.

It is then that we retreat into a shell of false certainty, of fake security.  And we can’t have the right conversations in the public square.