When you look up Authority in the dictionary:
QUOTE
1) a. The power to enforce laws, exact obedience, command, determine, or judge.
b. One that is invested with this power, especially a government or body of government officials: land titles issued by the civil authority.
2) Power assigned to another; authorization: Deputies were given authority to make arrests.
3) A public agency or corporation with administrative powers in a specified field: a city transit authority.
4) a. An accepted source of expert information or advice: a noted authority on birds; a reference book often cited as an authority.
b. A quotation or citation from such a source: biblical authorities for a moral argument
5) Justification; grounds: On what authority do you make such a claim?
6) A conclusive statement or decision that may be taken as a guide or precedent.
7) Power to influence or persuade resulting from knowledge or experience: political observers who acquire authority with age.
8) Confidence derived from experience or practice; firm self-assurance: played the sonata with authority.
...the most important definitions are the least used.b. One that is invested with this power, especially a government or body of government officials: land titles issued by the civil authority.
2) Power assigned to another; authorization: Deputies were given authority to make arrests.
3) A public agency or corporation with administrative powers in a specified field: a city transit authority.
4) a. An accepted source of expert information or advice: a noted authority on birds; a reference book often cited as an authority.
b. A quotation or citation from such a source: biblical authorities for a moral argument
5) Justification; grounds: On what authority do you make such a claim?
6) A conclusive statement or decision that may be taken as a guide or precedent.
7) Power to influence or persuade resulting from knowledge or experience: political observers who acquire authority with age.
8) Confidence derived from experience or practice; firm self-assurance: played the sonata with authority.
When most people tend to think of questioning or attacking authority, they think of attacking the definitions near the top. Those definitions are more associated to "power." When you attack power it's known as the frontal assault. They expect you to come, they see you coming, and they most likely have set traps or some sort of kill zone for you to walk into before you can get to them. The frontal assault rarely works and almost never works well unless you have more power than the power you are attacking.
The best way to attack power is attack the source (the base, the foundation) of power. The sources of power are closer to the bottom of the list of definitions. Where does that authority come from?
Answer: Authorship! Authority comes from authorship. Many people have died fighting for your free speech right. Free press is more possible now than ever before. So if you are mostly reading and never writing, you are yielding authority to other authors.
Our planet is a foundation that we stand on. Everything is built on that foundation, such as your house, military bases, ports to launch ships, runways to land planes, launch pads to launch satellites. The material of that foundation may be concrete and/or dirt, but I like to imagine something more important is between the earth and the buildings. Media (books, audio, video, live presentations) and media content (ideas, accounts, theories) are between the earth and the buildings. The longer our civilization lasts, the more that layers of media separate our buildings from the earth.
I'm not suggesting that we return to the soil by rejecting the media. That would be the quickest way to lose authority. I'm saying that we contribute to and repair the layers by opposing the authority with authority of our own. We are the media, the medium between the earth and it's structures. If you want to question or oppose authority, stop relying on other people (politicians and reporters) to do your thinking and speaking for you. Start critically observing, start writing and start building.
Your thoughts?
