re questioning authority despite my trendy liberal feminist tendencies and the fact that i basically agree with what you are saying i will rebut dr nancy s sweetie writes chris mussack writes for all those people who insist i question authority why authorities sometimes tell people to do evil things people who just follow orders have tortured and killed others in very large numbers and protest their innocence afterwards the basic question here is how do i know what i am supposed to do this is true in every situation that comes up some people do not think about it at all and merely follow their impulses i claim that is just as dangerous as following authority i could site sexually transmitted diseases drug abuse all manner of criminal activity the savings and loan scandal car accidents eggs thrown at my house all are examples of people not following authority i could easily argue that in the evil examples you gave the problem was a leader not following his authority and doing what he wanted of course where is the top of the chain therein lies our search when your authority starts telling you to do things you should ask questions except for situations of pressing need i said shut the hatch because the submarine is filling with water any reasonable authority should be able to give at least some justification that you can understand i don t think it s as simple as you are claiming pressing need is ambiguous should i recycle or not realize that i have four kids who despite being very precocious of course are very tiring with their constant lack of understanding the tremendous knowledge i wish to impart to them just be sure to listen when authority answers ahh an ironic ending the irony i was implying in my initial pithy retort to the bumper sticker cliche question authority was that i was questioning the authority of the person telling me to question authority it seems there is a certain segment of society that finds meaning only in being different only in rebelling forsaking everything for the sake of freedom i question their integrity and fortitude there is another freedom that comes from doing a task correctly different people are at different levels of development in different areas part of the challenge of life is to find the right authorities to follow we can t know everything about everything often when learning a new skill or subject i will follow the teacher perhaps blindly only when i have learned enough to ask appropriate questions should i question him only when i have developed my skills enough should i challenge him once again how do i know when i get to those stages if you have to be told to question authority perhaps you shouldn t chris mussack a good comedian should never have to explain his jokes
