What is authoritarianism? It is the belief that humans are basically bad, and they need to be domesticated or tamed in order to be good. To be tamed, an animal needs to have its spirit broken. The authority wields the rod of punishment, to hurt those who are bad, in order to break their spirit and force them to be good.
Authoritarianism is a form of hierarchy. There is some form of authority that is above you, the bad human. This authority, though human, is not bad. In order to be good, we must submit to this authority. We must let it break our spirit and we must become tamed, or civilized animals.
Authoritarianism is a mental virus. It infects us from a young age. It causes us to split our own minds into the part that is the authority and therefore good, and the part that is bad and must be punished. It infects us with a 'book of the law' which tells us what is good and what is bad. We use this book to judge the entire universe and everything in it, including ourselves. Good things may be rewarded, but bad things must be punished.
We feel the rod being wielded against us, but we are told, you can wield the rod against yourself, and then at least, you will be in control of your own domestication. But that is a lie. You must split your mind to wield the rod against yourself, and a divided mind is never in control.
Bullying is a symptom of authoritarianism. It is an attempt to enforce the ideals of authoritarianism, the idea that people are bad and must be punished, that they must submit to authority. Nobody, or very very few people, are born bullies. Bullies are created through authoritarianism, taught that all humans are bad, and that there are two real options: be the guy holding the rod, or be the guy getting beat down.
In their hearts, bullies are cowards. They cravenly submitted to authoritarianism and rather than face the fact that they gave up and started to domesticate themselves through self-coercion and punishment, they learn how to relish wielding the rod of punishment themselves.
Bullies and authoritarians are not "out there" somewhere. They live inside (almost) all of us. If they do not exist inside you, then in a very real sense, they do not exist outside of you either, for they can have no real power over you unless you, too, have been infected by the mental illness of authoritarianism and installed the 'hooks' inside yourself that they can use to control you.
So be alert to the signs: feelings of judgment, feeling the need to punish others, even, in many cases, the pleasure of seeing justice done actually comes from an authoritarian mindset. Because the disease of authoritarianism is not "out there" somewhere, but inside us, we can all combat it. But we must use a different kind of combat, one whose strikes and blows are love, understanding, and acceptance, and not kicks and punches.
