WHAT ARE THE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN FORCE AND AUTHORITY?
Let’s say a family is a minimum of two people. These people consider themselves in relationship and with mutual self-interest. They could hypothetically be a parent and child. Without external forces that could be blamed for causing dispute, say with the two people living on an island or in the middle of an unpopulated forest, the opportunities for violence and force aren’t just limited, they are very clear. There is violence that one person acts on another – violence and force directly applied, to achieve one person’s will over the preference of the other. That violence is present in the macro authoritarian society – the gestapo, the SS, the KGB, the CIA, ICE, and many would say most of modern policing, but that violence is experienced one individual at a time. Clearly that kind of direct force is not subtle, but it is fundamental to fascism and authoritarianism. Without the mental prioritization that allows for it, force of any kind would not occur. In the absence of one person’s priorities there are both people’s priorities, which on an island or alone in the forest predicate limited choice and a necessity for an agreement. In a healthy family there is no way for ego to hold on forever because the family is “us,” and not “me” by definition.
Why is it not okay universally, in any family unit, to sustain by violence and abuse? Where is the distinction between relationships predicated on survival-focused agreements and unfair power dynamics based on the same? There’s the motive, and then there’s the effect. But the effect in fascism or abusive authority follows from the fact of unfair power leveraging over another. Without the implication or assertion of force and violence, it isn’t fascism but sycophancy. When someone with power in a situation uses it without consideration for others, it is fascist and the motive is what matters. Say a child was running into a street chasing a ball, and a car was speeding down the road towards the running child. Would it be fascist to stop the child by grabbing his arm or getting in his way? Yes, definitively. However, it is also love and the motive was relevant to the demanding situation.
WHEN DOES FORCE NOT CAUSE RESISTANCE?
When does that instance of forceful action, that moment of tearing between individuals that causes conflict, change from a temporary breakdown and become an institution, unchangeable and consistent over time? When one situation calls for forceful response and another clearly doesn’t, why can’t we tell what is ‘just’ and what is a slippery precipitous slope towards unfairness and authoritarian reality?
