Authority

[susandennis]

I was just reading along - all my journals and blogs and an entry by canyoncat gave me whiplash. He says: "I grew up learning to "QUESTION AUTHORITY" and nothing I have seen in my life leads me to believe I should ever change that point of view."

I kept on reading but this idea just wouldn't move on. There is something here...

I am only 8 years older than canyoncat but I got the opposite end of that raising stick.

I was raised to NEVER QUESTION AUTHORITY. It started with "Because I said so" and was nurtured on the couch with the rest of my family tuned into Father Knows Best. It was fueled by fear of the principals office and the dire (albeit unspecified) consequences of not paying attention to the crossing guard.

I went to a snotty private girls finishing school that was baked in unquestioned authority.

But, then I went to college and it was still the 60's and all that indoctrination was wiped out in a few short weeks and replace by Never Trust Anyone Over 30, cops were pigs, the military was where they dragged your boyfriend off to kill him, the president of the U.S. was a crook no matter what he said and the best way to defend yourself against all this was to hurry up and be self sufficient.

So I did. And, now, I think I question most everything. Authority, color choices, motive... it's my nature to zip right by face value and go for the gooey innards.

I need to conjure on this some more.

Comments

[geordie.livejournal.com]

You seem to have made a good recovery from a bad start ;-)

Some of my earliest memories are of my parents commenting on the news and what they thought was really going on. A lot of it was explanation of manipulative techniques, "they are saying X so you will believe Y". It gave me my initial distaste for adverts.

But I still give people a fair chance, it isn't that I am totally cynical, but I learned to make initial judgements which are often quite harsh but also usually correct. I had the pleasure of explaining to my mother what a good job she had done of educating us when she was here last summer.

[art-thirst.livejournal.com]

Well! Look at that nice new icon! :-))

[susandennis]

old dog/new tricks... :)

[edbook.livejournal.com]

in my recent travels to the majority of the states, it was very apparent the general gist of the majority of the people in each region. It fell roughly into three camps... those who questioned what this country was doing and had reasons for their questioning and the second camp who blindly followed and when asked why this or that and the answer was almost always "because" with no understanding beyond that. The third camp were the clueless. If it didn't affect their job (at the moment) or their pickup truck payments or ability to buy/steal music off the internet, they didn't care.

The trip left me feeling we are a nation of idiots and sheep.

Peace

Peace

[susandennis]

Holey moley! Ex-marine union organizer??!!! I think that's why we learned duck and cover!!

[jwg.livejournal.com]

I used to have a Question Authority Bumper sticker on my white board at work. (I wonder if I still have it somewhere?)

Occasionally my boss would come in and write Why> on it.

[susandennis]

ohhh that's good.

[canyoncat.livejournal.com]

I've got a button somewhere... picked up in the 70s I am sure.

[serratia.livejournal.com]

Questioning authority is essential. If you raise your kids (as I did) to question, it may cause more problems in the short-term ("but Mom, *WHY* do we have to go to bed now???" :)) but further down the road you end up with critical thinkers, not browbeaten followers.

[canyoncat.livejournal.com]

Big difference between growing up in the 60s and 70s I guess... especially where I grew up. We lived only a few blocks outside of Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA and I remember the war protests from those days.

[susandennis]

Oh, you may be right about those 8 years. And I think you nailed it on the geography question. I grew up 8 years earlier in ... get this for contrast... North Carolina! I owned (and wore, god-promised-she'd-love-me-anyway) a poodle skirt.

And, thank you so much for giving me so much to think about today. It's been very interesting!

[geordie.livejournal.com]

What's a ... oh why don't I look it up. You had one of those? Ah cute little college girl... mmm. You can still get them you know.

http://www.clicket.com/costume/fifties/poodleskirts/poodleskirts.html

[susandennis]

Yikes! Yep, that's it... A giant circular skirt made of felt - much like those you see around the bottom of Christmas trees. And the cool girls had netted pettycoats and the big wide stretchy belt like you see in that picture. My poodle skirt was gray and my poodle had a poofy bit on his head. One wore them with saddle shoes. Ok, I'll look that one up for you - http://www.cruisinusa.com/pltb/pl_saddles.html

One more thing . . .

[nezbitthecat.livejournal.com]

Don't forget if you fuck up, it's going on "your permanent record" which follows you everywhere forever and ever!

Re: One more thing . . .

[susandennis]

ohmygod, YES!! That permanent record threat was responsible for many a shitty decision on my part.