good and bad are in the eye of the beholder

[Guest guest]

At 07:27 PM 1/25/02 +1000, Jahnu (das) (Byron Bay - AU) wrote:

>Maybe it's not so complicated. Could it be that if the authority is

>good, like in the case of eg. Srila Prabhupada or a great King like

>Yudhisthira Maharaja, then authoritarianism is a good thing, and if

>the authority is bad, like in the cases of Saddam Hussein or President

>Bush, then authoritarianism is a bad thing?

 

The problem is that although lots of people may agree that they don't mind

authoritarianism when it's in the hands of someone whose

philosophy/politics they like, we don't exactly have a consensus in the

world about who is "good" and "bad". Even Saddam Hussein, Hitler and the

Taliban had/have people who agreed with their views and thought it was good

that they were/are authoritarian. Unfortunately, your views about "good"

and "bad" would probably count among a very small minority in this world.

 

This reminds me of the literature on parental styles in child rearing,

which showed that authoritative, not authoritarian (or permissive for that

matter) parents had children who were most well adjusted, competent, had

good self esteem and could stand up to peer pressure etc. Here are the

descriptions of each. I know it's not a perfect model, but leaders do take

on parental roles at times, teaching values and setting rules of conduct

and consequences.

 

Here's part of a summary of the different styles that I used in a class I

taught on developmental psychology a few years ago.

 

Authoritarian parents tend to be low in nurturance and high in parental

control compared with other parents. They set absolute standards of

behavior for their children that are not to be questioned or negotiated.

They favor forceful discipline and demand prompt obedience. Authoritarian

parents also are less likely than others to use more gentle methods of

persuasion, such as affection, praise and rewards, with their children.

 

In sharp contrast, permissive parents tend to be moderate to high in

nurturance, but low in parental control. These parents place relatively few

demands on their children and are likely to be inconsistent

disciplinarians. They are accepting of the child's impulses, desires, and

actions and are less likely than other parents to monitor their children's

behavior.

 

Authoritative parents, in contrast to both authoritarian and permissive

parents, tend to be high in nurturance and moderate in parental control

when it comes to dealing with child behavior. It is this combination of

parenting strategies that Baumrind and others find the most facilitative in

the development of social competence during early childhood and beyond.

[Guest guest]

At 07:36 AM 1/25/2002 -1000, Madhusudani Radha (dd) JPS (Mill Valley, CA -

USA) wrote:

 

>The problem is that although lots of people may agree that they don't mind

>authoritarianism when it's in the hands of someone whose

>philosophy/politics they like, we don't exactly have a consensus in the

>world about who is "good" and "bad". Even Saddam Hussein, Hitler and the

>Taliban had/have people who agreed with their views and thought it was good

>that they were/are authoritarian. Unfortunately, your views about "good"

>and "bad" would probably count among a very small minority in this world.

>

>This reminds me of the literature on parental styles in child rearing,

>which showed that authoritative, not authoritarian (or permissive for that

>matter) parents had children who were most well adjusted, competent, had

>good self esteem and could stand up to peer pressure etc. . . . Here's

>part of a summary of the different styles that I used in a class I

>taught on developmental psychology a few years ago. . . .

 

Very helpful information well presented. Thank you. Akhilesvara suggests

that the dictionaries' definitions of authoritarian are arbitrary because

they don't fit his idea. He needs to face the fact that his idea of the

word's meaning is different from what is generally accepted in society

(which is what the dictionary represents). He may do well to consider the

difference between "authoritarian" and "authoritative" as described in

Madhusudani's notes. Authoritative leaders are strong, decisive, confident

AND give their charges room to grow on their own. That more closely

describes the kind of leadership we value in our gurudeva, and in the kings

in the Purana's and itihasas.

 

Babhru