Some people think Blind Obedience to Authority is proper and moral behavior. That anything else erodes a society. Martin Luther, for one (which is kind of ironic, actually, since he is best known for refusing a certain, particular Authority). Problem with that (obedience, not Martin Luther) is that it is predicated on the assumption that “Authority” knows better than anyone else what’s best.
Over and over again that assumption has self-demonstrated itself to be rather faulty.
On examination it is quite clear why that assumption can only rarely and under special circumstances be true. “Authority” leads to bureaucracy and bureaucracy leads to ossification (doing things “by the book” whether it applies to reality or not), and that leads only to the situation that no one wins. (This argument is very brief, there are steps that have been skipped; but all the in-between steps can be traced.)
Blind Obedience is just wrong. You must ask why such-and-so is being asked of you. If you agree, then don’t simply obey, cooperate. If you disagree, act on that also — doing so responsibly!
The system has feedback loops in it. (Ways to let “Those In Charge” know your opinion, ways to Appeal, ways to Recall, etc.) These appear to not work only because they are so rarely used. Anything that is rarely used will atrophy, eventually becoming unable to work at all. Social systems do the same thing. Stop using your rights, and eventually you don’t have them.
On the other hand, rights are not something that is or even can be given to you, nor can they be denied you. Not possible. What happens is that you have opportunities and you use them or you don’t. Blind Obedience in the long run results in the loss of all opportunities.
I do NOT mean, disregard Authority, nor ignore it, nor do the opposite of… that is at least as destructive. Active participate in the system is the only thing that can ever fix the system. You. Each of you, one by one. Remember, Gandhi was also a Lawyer.
Note: this is a very very great over-simplification of this topic. In anything less than a book it would be hard to make this point clear enough to actually be obvious. So… think it through for yourself. I’ve given you the starting points.
Agree with me, or disagree with me; but think it through first. Form a reasoned opinion. That’s all I’m saying, as that is the only thing that keeps a Society Free, Strong, Just, Fair and Growing.
To quote Robert Heinlein (The Notebooks of Lazarus Long):
Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one man. How’s that again? I missed something.
Autocracy is based on the assumption that one man is wiser than a million men. Let’s play that over again, too. Who decides?