Progressive Values 
Authoritarian Values
One point about the indentured servant story is here: what makes us think we can build a culture of peace on this foundation? It’s the value system that invented concepts of peace through strength — from the perspective of the ruler, where peace means you have the power to crush troublemakers efficiently.
Just to be very clear, a value system is hard to look at and analyse. It’s invisible. That doesn’t mean it’s not important though. It’s the foundation of the totality of our thinking.
Speaking as a peace advocate it’s important to me that an authoritarian system resists a culture of peace. When you take a look at the ideal organization of an authoritarian system it’s obvious why. It’s based on worthy vs. unworthy. The whole system agrees that the people on the top are there because they’re worthy of it. And the people on the bottom are there for the same reason. The people on the top require the presence of people on the bottom. What’s the point of being up there if there’s exploitable class below you?
If you’re not on the top your responsibility is to work your way up there. If you’re not on the bottom it’s a huge relief and you’re pleased not to be one of “them.”
The further down on the pyramid you are the more likely you are to have dark skin. No matter how many people with dark skin are awesome, the pyramid masters want them on the bottom. The history for that is complex, but it’s tied to the indentured servant story.
The most disconcerting thing for the authoritarian value system is that the progressive values system disagrees with it. Here’s the ideal image for that:
This is where democracy can happen and well-being for people, planet and community is a real thing. It’s a flatter pyramid where the leaders have a lot of accountability to the citizens. It’s interesting that somebody in every progressive group I ever presented it to said “there shouldn’t be leaders. We should all be the same.” We need to have some conversation about progressive leadership.
The progressive ideal is to embrace well-being for all. Not that progressives do this well… but it’s the ideal. This is not a perfect form of being, but it’s the state the culture has been trying to morph towards since the 60’s, even though the old authoritarian ways are thoroughly institutionalized, bureaucratized, and artificially embedded at a semi-cellular level in the whole population.
The polarization of the culture reflected here is very much counter to progressive values. But there’s no way to pretend the polarization away with wishful ideology. Maybe the next cycle of the great turning will carry us into values that can reflect real oneness. This just seems to be where we are now.
The way to make an authoritarian happy is to embrace authoritarian values. So if one is not ready to do that, the polarization must be acknowledged and dealt with honestly, at least internally An observation I’ve made it that failure to embrace authoritarian values is similar to an act of war. Use of words like “empathy”, “community”, “common good”, any word that starts with “com…” that might sound like “communist” reveal you as less than a true believer and therefore a threat. The sad reality of it just can’t be ignored.
Some part of authoritarian upbringing must include instant recognition of the presence of “the other.” It’s surprising how quickly they can sense that you aren’t speaking from the acceptable cannon. The immediate recognition of the alien thinker. The instant closing of the doors of perception to shut out the dangerous and unacceptable. The quick chill in the conversation. But an authoritarian surely feels a similar chill when he speaks from the wrong cannon in the wrong crowd.
It appears that the authoritarian system has all the cards… money, corporate power, political power, military power, institutional control and all. There’s a major hint of the weakness in the system though. It comes from the terror authoritarians display at any sign of a progressive presence. It shows up every day on Fox News and at holiday meals.
Dr. George Lakoff wrote in the 1990’s that at the end of World War II the authoritarian system was the only legitimate value system. By 1990 the population was already split. 40% endorsed authoritarian values fully or to some extent. 40% endorsed progressive values (Lakoff calls then nurturant parent values), and then there’s the 20% oddballs. Since culture changes slowly and values are invisible it took a long time for anybody to notice how profound the change actually was. Up in to the 21st century, the progressive side assumed they were alone and powerless, and the authoritarian side assumed total control right up until covid 19 flummoxed the quintessential authoritarian Donald Trump.
The demographics are not on the side of authoritarian power, but election manipulation, pandemic and climate change might let them be the last party standing. Or maybe not. It’s hard to tell from this moment in time.
I hope I’m making myself clear. To reiterate, authoritarian values cannot be the basis for a culture of peace. Progressive values (balance / harmony / well-being for everybody working together) can. From that basis we can talk about how the network of life will operate to make that happen.
So glad to get that off my chest.