LET US LIVE WITHOUT HARMING!: LET US NOT BE AUTHORITARIAN

The human being possesses an instinct for dominance and submission, shared with other species such as chimpanzees or wolves, which establish a hierarchy under the leadership of alpha males. Frequently, the law of the strongest prevails.

This is usually accompanied by aggressive and harmful behaviors to assert dominance, as well as the enjoyment of privileges by those at the top, such as exclusive access to females to satisfy sexual needs or taking the best portion of the food. In the case of lions, the “king” kills the offspring of females sired by other lions so that they only have offspring with him.

In the human race, the palette of dominance mechanisms is as varied as a painter’s, ranging from manipulation, lowering self-esteem, creating dependency, and isolating from other relationships, to shouting, insults, punishment, hitting, and other forms of physical abuse, extending to imprisonment, torture, and murder.

It can occur at the most micro level, such as between couples or in parent-child relationships, to the most macro level, in forms of government such as dictatorships, non-constitutional monarchies, or low-quality autocratic democracies. Read more…

And it can be directed toward members of the same group or toward other groups, in the form of conquest and imperialism or the subjugation of other racial or ethnic groups, speciesism, etc.

Authoritarianism is more characteristic of the far right, the far left, illiberal conservatism, toxic traditionalist religiosity, and harmful gregariousness.

The cure for this evil that causes so much suffering is to spread the culture of:

• Freedom
• Respect
• Tolerance
• Kindness
• Not harming others
• Not manipulating
• Egalitarianism in terms of rights and treatment, with minimal hierarchy

The most effective approach is to persistently educate children and young people in this modus pensandi and operandi, but it is also important to provide education for adults.

LET US START WITH THOSE IN OUR OWN ENVIRONMENT!

A first step toward this can be sharing these types of messages.

Thank you,