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Saturday, May 21, 2022

Sources of Authority

By Anna Von Reitz

From ancient times, religion has been used as the excuse for Monarchs lording it over other men.

The Monarchs or the priests tell the people that "God appointed me to be King over the rest of you." and in the Western World, the Pope or the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox or Russian Orthodox Church signs off on it, and there you are. Saul is anointed with oil and the entire system of a Monarchy is born.

It has been this way for thousands of years, long before the Egyptians and the Canaanites, who taught the bad habit to the Hebrews.

After the Monarchy is established, of course, it continues in an arbitrary way based on inheritance and familial relationship to the former Monarch.

The countries of the Eastern Hemisphere have tended to be more honest. They just have a warlord who declares himself "God" by force, instead of someone who pretends to be appointed by God.

So, God and Raw Force and Inheritance are three of the ways that Monarchies justify their existence, and none are very convincing, especially as those participating in this system of things benefit themselves and their cronies at the expense of everyone else.

And that is not why people tolerate governments. People tolerate governments in the hope that those governments will do their actual job --- to protect the people and their assets, instead of preying upon and pillaging them.

Are there any other traditional sources of authority underpinning government?

There are elections, honest or not. These de facto "elected monarchies" claim their authority from the "vote of the electors". There are also corporation elections that similarly claim their authority from the "vote of the shareholders".

There are obvious problems with this, too. First and foremost, it is difficult to maintain honest elections of this kind. Stuffing of ballot boxes dates back at least 1500 years, and coerced voting at the muzzle of a gun or point of a knife is always popular with despots, as is voting "contaminated" by self-interest.

Second, those elected typically have astonishingly short memories regarding their campaign promises and seldom even try to carry through on what they promised to the people who elected them.

Third, a large percentage of the eligible population doesn't vote, because they feel it is (1) pointless or (2) they don't know enough to make a good decision. This Great Silent Majority chugs along being silent --- with the result that only about a third of the eligible voters "speak" in any given election.

Fourth, elections tend to devolve into popularity contests of a vapid kind, and hinge on how physically appealing the candidate is and how nice they sound and what kind of focus they have in terms of spending on people's pet projects and bottom lines.

So that's it, the excuses given for "government authority" in a nutshell are: God, Force, Inheritance, and Election (by people, not God).

In however many thousands of years ----we can't come up with any better system of organizing ourselves than this? Really?

Please note that the results of all such claims of authority are bound to be arbitrary, unstable, and eventually disastrous, depending more on chance than good sense.

The premises and processes by which we choose and elevate leaders are akin to the same premises and processes by which we bet on horse races. If we sat down and thought about this for even ten minutes out of a lifetime, does this make sense?

No, it does not.

On top of all of this, there is a backstory to the process of "delegating authority" --- and that is what this whole unwieldy and unrealistic process does to the men and women who are the "lucky" winners.

King Saul went insane,, and history is full of examples of kings and queens bowed down and destroyed by the burdens and fears and miseries of the Royal Office. Many young princes and princesses have been left distraught by the pressures and sacrifices involved in exchange for the fancy digs and clothes.

Being King, or President, or Head of State, is far from what its cracked up to be, for anyone concerned.

Given all these facts, why do we persist in promoting, practicing, and enforcing these claims of authority based on chance and hokum as the basis of our government?

Couldn't we just as well have a friendly game of Poker?

Of course, none of these claims of authority really make sense in any constructive way. Rule by force enshrines thugs and bullies and it rewards and motivates them.

Rule by Divine Right is hokum because God doesn't speak to us about such things, and in any case, other than as a cruel joke and object lesson, why would he? He's the King. One is reminded of a Father letting his son wear his shoes, to demonstrate how heavy those shoes are and how inadequate the child's abilities to wear them are.

Rule by Inheritance is a flip of the coin. You might get a great King, but you might just as well get someone who imagines he is a deadly germ or a tampon.

Rule by Election is the best of the lot in terms of practicality and having at least some theoretical control over who stands over you and waves the magic wand --- but for all the reasons cited above Rule by Election falls short of being an honest process leading to reliable results. And it only gets worse with the introduction of Political Parties into the mix; inevitably, such systems devolve into a Selection-Election process, where the Parties only offer candidates of THEIR choosing to the Electorate.

There is one most venerable and most sensible source of authority which is honest, trustworthy, and reliable -- and that is the Council of Elders.

Every country and nation on Earth is blessed with leaders who actually do deserve our respect, not because of any narrative, but because of what they have lived through, what they have learned, and the choices they have made in life that identify them as being honest, good, and wise people.

Placing our destiny in the hands of our Creator, and leaving the Little Stuff to a Council of Elders who have proven their mettle, makes sense.

Elders of good character have lived full lives. They are known by what they have done, not by what they have said. Money is not the object, when you have accumulated all that you need. It's apparent, too, how precious life is, from the standpoint of eighty versus seventeen. And as you age, you gather courage, and it's not because you have less to lose. It's because courage is the foundation of every good and moral choice.

Through time, those cultures who cherish their Elders and listen to them have survived when others have failed and fallen. The love that our Elders have given to us must be reflected back to them, and with every passing season, the words they give us deserve more consideration -- not less.

These should be our authorities and the values they have kept and cherished and personified throughout their lives should be the basis of their authority, for knowledge, experience, kindness, unselfish service, wisdom, success, courage, and moral fortitude are the foundations of true authority.

True authority is not an accident. It's not inherited. It isn't won in Primaries. It can't be bought in a payola swap. It is earned.

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See this article and over 3600 others on Anna's website here: www.annavonreitz.com

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