I wish it were true that one could regulate the behavior of human beings through licensing requirements and codes of ethics. But such strictures are no guarantee against the most outrageous behavior, witness the participation
of psychologists in the state-sponsored torture that the United States government now routinely carries out at locations known and unknown around
the world. The weakness of professional constraints can be seen in the shameful struggle that has been taking place within the American Psychological Association over putting the APA on record as opposed to its members participating in state-sponsored torture. For reasons that are almost too disgusting to contemplate, the leadership of the APA has been
resisting these efforts.

Rules help, but in the end we come back to the issues which Aldon raises about how we teach our children to interact with the various authority figures and authority institutions which they will encounter as they pass through life.

The failure of young people to join in a mass peace movement against the war in Iraq has been a profound disappointment to me, a veteran of many anti-Vietnam marches. The pressures to keep your head down and stay out of trouble are enormous, and it’s easy for those of us who question authority on a regular basis to fully appreciate the psychological barriers which prevent too many people from ever taking that first step.

As an organizer who brings a skeptical perspective to the world, my fundamental question is always what do we have to do to make it possible, to make it safe, for people to take that first step.

Richard Bell 400 15th St SE, Apt B Washington, DC 20003 202-669-4125
richardbelldc@hotmail.com

As a professional counselor, I know something about the psychology of authority. Clients tend to give me a lot of power simply because I’m an expert in my field (which doesn’t mean I’m an expert in everything!) and also because they see in me a way towards their own healing. I can use that to their advantage by empowering them, or I can use it for my own ego gratification, which results in a violation of my professional ethical code which says I am to put my clients’ welfare above any and all other considerations. If only politicians and CEOs had licensing requirements and codes of ethics and could have their power taken away if they violated them!When you have that kind of power, it is o so easy and tempting to abuse it–and, of course, many people do.

Anyway, an aspect of this is the vulnerability of people who have an incomplete sense of their own identity and look to the authority of another individual or group to give them that sense that they know who they are and that who they are is ok. People who are extremists or fundamentalists of any religious persuasion, or nationalists who talk about patriotism as the ultimate value, or family as the most important institution no matter what that family is actually like, or the president as above the law or even criticism, all have that in common–the focus on something/someone external to them and the projection of their own power onto that something/someone in order to give themselves the illusion of being whole or right. This is similar to the dynamic of cults.

You can see my views on political authority here:
http://declarationofauthority.com/

I hope I have offered something of value to the discussion.

Elissa