Coronavirus and the End of Authority
Excerpt: Authority rises and falls based on perceived responsibility and empathy. For a ruler’s authority truly to be respected, ultimately he must demonstrate some concern for you, your family’s welfare, and the general flourishing of people like you. Someone who is superior and hostile may be feared and even respected—in the same sense one respects a capable adversary—but he would not have authority. Societies will endure curfews and rationing during a crisis. Soldiers will suffer great privation and near-certain death out of a sense of duty to their mission. But no one willingly suffers for things they consider meaningless. A stupid, unnecessary risk is an affront, a squandering of trust. If the rulers do not appear concerned for your welfare, do not share your burdens, and are willing to sacrifice the general welfare to advance their personal interests, they put their authority in jeopardy. (...) This is what Sam Francis had in mind with his concept of anarcho-tyranny. In such a regime, the full weight of the government is simultaneously applied against one group, while completely loosened from another. One type of person is given a heavy sentence for vandalism, while a violent thug is freed to commit more mischief. If one group consistently is favored at another’s expense, the out-group may deem it “necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another.” [If these last few words sound familiar, it’s because they’re from the Declaration of Independence. We’re facing a scary time these days. I, for one, would not welcome a Second Revolution, but it’s looking more and more like that’s what is coming. God help us, all. Ron P.]
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