Authority

1

by Mikhail BakuninGrandfather of Social Anarchis...

from Marxism, Freedom, and the State

Every logical and sincere theory of the State is essentially founded on the principle of authority -- that is to say on the eminently theological, metaphysical and political idea that the masses, always incapable of governing themselves, must submit at all times to the benevolent yoke of a wisdom and a justice, which in one way or another, is imposed on them from above. (From: Chapter 3..)

2

by Anselme BellegarrigueFrench Individualist Anarchist...

from World's First Anarchist Manifesto, The

I cannot see, for instance, how or why the three million French who never vote are targeted for the lawful or arbitrary oppression visited upon the country by a government returned by the seven million electors who do vote. In short, I fail to see why it should be that a government that I had no hand in making, nor had any desire to make, nor would ever agree to make, should come along and demand my obedience and my money, on the grounds that it has the authority from its makers. (From: Section 9: On Electorate or Universal Suffrage, Pa....)

3

by Herman W. BensonAmerican Labor Union Activist,...

from World of the Blue Collar Worker

A hundred flowers of democracy were to bloom in the gardens of labor. Who could know that in a few years, brush, brambles, and vines would take over? (From: Chapter 14: Apathy and Other Axioms, by H. W. Bens....)

4

by Stuart ChristieScottish Anarchist Writer, Pub..., Albert MeltzerEnglish, Anarcho-communist Act...

from Floodgates of Anarchy

...the slaves of Haiti had embraced the republican ideas of their French masters, who thereupon reacted much as would the old nobility. (From: Chapter 7: Party Lines and Politics, Page 85..)

5

by ?tienne De La Bo?tieFrench Magistrate, Classicist,...

from A Discourse on Voluntary Servitude

Men are like handsome race horses who first bite the bit and later like it, and rearing under the saddle a while soon learn to enjoy displaying their harness and prance proudly beneath their trappings. Similarly men will grow accustomed to the idea that they have always been in subjection, that their fathers lived in the same way; they will think they are obliged to suffer this evil, and will persuade themselves by example and imitation of others, finally investing those who order them around with proprietary rights, based on the idea that it has always been that way.

6

by Eugene Victor DebsAmerican Socialist, Political ...

from Roosevelt and His Regime

There are those, and they constitute a great majority of the American people, who stand in awe of their president, supposedly their servant, but in fact their master...

7

by Domingo GerminalSpanish Anarchist Fighter, Rev...

from Durruti in the Spanish Revolution

There are only two types of people in politics: the idiot and the rascal. (From: Second Part: The Militant (1931-1936), Section 16:....)

8

by Emma GoldmanMother of Revolutionary, Socia...

from What I Believe

Ours is supposed to be a country ruled by the majority, yet every policeman who is not vested with power by the majority can break up a meeting, drag the lecturer off the platform and club the audience out of the hall in true Russian fashion. The Postmaster General, who is not an elective officer, has the power to suppress publications and confiscate mail.

9

by David HumeScottish Enlightenment Philoso...

from Essays Moral, Political, and Literary

Were you to preach, in most parts of the world, that political connections are founded altogether on voluntary consent or a mutual promise, the magistrate would soon imprison you, as seditious, for loosening the ties of obedience... (From: Part II. Essay XII. Of the Original Contract..)

10

by Anton PannekoekDutch Astronomer, Philosopher,...

from General Remarks on the Question of Organisation

...members of parliament are chosen for a fixed number of years; only at the polls are the citizens masters -- on this one day when they choose their delegates. Once this day has passed, their power has gone and the delegates are independent, free to act for a term of years according to their own 'conscience,' restricted only by the knowledge that after this period they have to face the voters anew; but then they count on catching their votes in a noisy election campaign, bombing the confused voters with slogans and demagogic phrases. Thus not the voters but the parliamentarians are the real masters who decide politics. And the voters do not even send persons of their own choice as delegates; they are presented to them by the political part...

11

by John F. WitteProfessor of Political Science...

from Democracy, Authority, and Alienation in Work

Democracy is an illusion when procedural mechanisms intended to reach and implement decisive judgments in accordance with a rule of political equality fail to do so. (From: Chapter 5: Joint Decision Making: The Problem of C....)

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Authority

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