Rusted Sky

One of the less appetizing bits of social fallout from the cultural shifts that brought about the 60s and the 70s is a simple little phrase that was used as both a shield and a weapon.

And no, it wasn't "Have a nice day!" delivered with a thick slathering of cheerfulness. No, this was much darker and yet very appealing for the counterculture crowd.

"Question Authority."

As a phrase, it's pretty good. It's clear, succint, to the point... and carries a hell of a lot of frieght. "Question Authority" - and a President fell. "Question Authority" - and a war was ended. (That the consequences for the losing side in Viet Nam were pretty horrific didn't matter.) "Question Authority" - and a cultural shift happened that hasn't settled down yet.

But any more, that phrase seems to be used for a simple rejection of the status quo. If a structure exists, "Question Authority" allows the 'user' to ignore it or attempt to change it into something more to his liking. In fact, it virtually demands it.

"Question Authority" ... but what's the real authority you're supposed to question? The authority of the teachers in school who tell you that everything sucks and the US is to blame for all the evils of the modern world? The PC folk who are very quick to insist that every culture is good in it's own way, with the exception of contemporary American culture which is uniquely diseased and deserving to be torn down? How about the authority of the likes of Chomsky and Chalmers Johnson? Question the authority of the police. Of your local government. Of the cultural mores you were raised under. Question what you're taught in the schools. Believe nothing, question everything... But NEVER question the authority of those telling you that you should question eveything and believe nothing.

Taken to the logical extreme - you wouldn't be able to trust anything. The web of trust that the country depends on would vanish. The glue that holds the country together, the common bonds of civility and politeness, the idea that you could believe the guy at the store selling food that was safe and wholesome or the doctor would give you proper treatment for what ails you with medicines that are likely to do you more good than harm - it's all corroded away by that little phrase. And how much weakening of the structure of a country can be endured before it collapses under it's own weight?

One of the things that's rarely noticed by political activists, the ones that advocate tossing out the old order and bringing in a new, who espouse violent revolution against the status quo because what's going on is so terrible they can barely find the words to express their hatred of it... is so simple it's not even worth noticing. It doesn't need a Communist Manifesto to proclaim it, or a book-length essay from a philosopher/linguist that is so complex that only someone who has studied philosophy for decades can comprehend it - instead it boils down to two simple sentances that have been overlooked by the 'man the barricades' crowd for centuries.

It's easy to break things down and burn things up. It's a lot harder to build things that work and build things that last.

When you go kicking at the structures of society, you'd best make very sure that there's nothing vitally important in those structures, and that you won't cause more problems than already exist. Certainly there have been things in our past that needed to be changed - slavery is a big thing there - but there have been attempts to change our society that backfired in ways that weren't expected, such as Prohibition. Caution is advised - but it's hard to be patient when you're a visionary. You KNOW what has to be done to make things perfect for everyone. The real problem is to sugar-coat the solution so people will be willing to swallow it. Yet the visionary's ideas of perfection tend to overlook a minor point

Perfection in human affairs is pretty much impossible to come up with - any society based on human interaction is going to be flawed and imperfect. This didn't keep the ideological dreamers from working at it, and generating horrific nightmares. The 20th century is littered with the wreckage of countries that attempted to create perfection within their societies, and failed at a horrendous cost of lives and properties and at their most malignant sought to force their 'perfection' on others... again at a staggering cost of lives and property. The dreams of utopia are fueled by blood and built on mounds of bodies.

And the call to "Question Authority", appealing to the young, to those who don't seem to fit in, who chafe under what they feel are artificial restrictions on the freedom they desire, seems to eventually lead to a society in upheaval, which wants structure and trust and certainty. A society ripe for a leader or ideology that promises that, leaving it laid wide open for a Hitler, a Marx, a Stalin or Mao - some strong man to come in and impose on that society an order that is lacking.

To promise a Utopia. Built on blood, built on bone. And suggested and started by a simple little phrase.... "Question Authority"

J.