[donnowhy]

on the other hand, this same pattern of "authoritarianism" is what we all learn to have when becoming adult members of our societies/cultures: it's an expression of one persons' individual consciousness with the ability to control their own behavior.

this gets weird when projecting our individual consciousness into the systems we construct to rule over ourselves (governments)... better known as our tendency (and capacity) to anthropomorphize anything.

[kelseyfrog]

No, I'm not talking about anthropomorphizing. I'm talking about reification.

And no, authoritarianism is not synonymous with the social contract. Sorry. Maybe in some minds, but no.