Introduction

Industrial nations fear it, emerging nations hate it, but few
understand it. The very word authority conjures up images of
oppression and abuse, and yet life in the universe and on
planet earth cannot function without it.
There are many benefits and opportunities connected to
authority that most people have never dreamed of. I am
therefore coming to believe that the greatest problem in our
world today is a basic disrespect for authority with an
accompanying disregard and dismissal of it.

The fundamental
reason for this problem is that most people harbor basic false
ideas about the nature of authority. I have discovered over the
years that there is much confusion and misunderstanding
about this concept. Confusion comes first—people have been
taught or have experienced conflicting notions of what it is.
And misunderstanding is the result—they aren’t aware of its
personal benefits or its value to their social institutions and
nations as a whole.
Because we misunderstand what authority really is—and
because this misunderstanding perpetuates the abuse of
authority and its consequences—we are always somewhat
suspicious of it.

We may have a passing (superficial) knowledge of
authority, but we have totally missed the richness of its true
nature. Consequently, we deal with it as a necessary evil. For
example, when people go to their jobs, many do what the boss
tells them to do—not because they want to or feel that it will
benefit them in any way, but rather so they can keep their
positions and their paychecks or maintain working
relationships with their supervisors. In another example, some
people grudgingly submit to the laws of the land while driving
their cars, but if they run a red light or exceed the speed limit
and get stopped by the police, they try to negotiate or argue
with the officers. They recognize them as representatives of the
law, but they want to challenge the law to see what they can
we get away with. A similar attitude toward authority can be
found in other realms of life.