Definition of Authoritarian
favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.
"the transition from an authoritarian to a democratic regime"
Looking for your help and opinions. No right or wrong here, just stating the facts as I see them and with some speculation. So I am not opposed to other speculations.
The definition implies a negative.
Does it indicate a a dislike for authority?
Do some people feel that authority directly opposes freedom?
This negative view caught my interest.
Has authority always had a negative meaning?
As I looked into it this definition it seemed to define a form of government. As in a non-authoritative government would be better? What would that be like?
Could it be a dislike for law and order...and even God?
Who would dislike law and order and God?
Who could that be? Now it is obvious, but was it always obvious?
So I was curious, I have a large library, so I pulled out some of my old dictionaries. What I found, in my old dictionaries (4 of them) ...even a huge Webster podium dictionary published in 1965, the word authoritarian was not in there. Then in 1966 it was. Did this word appear between those two years? Help me out if you guys have some old dictionaries.
This was the era of the flower children, free love, drugs and antidisestablishmentarianism. Were they looking for a word that would express their negative view of authority?
Are some people offended by the concept of God's authority? Is this part of the left's problem with God. They call Trump an authoritarian. They seem to have problems with law enforcement...defund the police....and embrace criminals....as freedom fighters. Do they think that the BLM riots that took cities hostage, assaulted, murdered, raped, burnt, looted, and chanted cuss words to Christ and burnt Bibles, does the left see them as freedom fighters? Is that why they were not prosecuted?
Am I way off base here? Feel free to set me straight, if I am.
favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.
"the transition from an authoritarian to a democratic regime"
Looking for your help and opinions. No right or wrong here, just stating the facts as I see them and with some speculation. So I am not opposed to other speculations.
The definition implies a negative.
Does it indicate a a dislike for authority?
Do some people feel that authority directly opposes freedom?
This negative view caught my interest.
Has authority always had a negative meaning?
As I looked into it this definition it seemed to define a form of government. As in a non-authoritative government would be better? What would that be like?
Could it be a dislike for law and order...and even God?
Who would dislike law and order and God?
Who could that be? Now it is obvious, but was it always obvious?
So I was curious, I have a large library, so I pulled out some of my old dictionaries. What I found, in my old dictionaries (4 of them) ...even a huge Webster podium dictionary published in 1965, the word authoritarian was not in there. Then in 1966 it was. Did this word appear between those two years? Help me out if you guys have some old dictionaries.
This was the era of the flower children, free love, drugs and antidisestablishmentarianism. Were they looking for a word that would express their negative view of authority?
Are some people offended by the concept of God's authority? Is this part of the left's problem with God. They call Trump an authoritarian. They seem to have problems with law enforcement...defund the police....and embrace criminals....as freedom fighters. Do they think that the BLM riots that took cities hostage, assaulted, murdered, raped, burnt, looted, and chanted cuss words to Christ and burnt Bibles, does the left see them as freedom fighters? Is that why they were not prosecuted?
Am I way off base here? Feel free to set me straight, if I am.
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