Anti-authoritarian

20 April 2021

Vaibhav Vats in Caravan magazine, on the pathetic orchestrated tweets by Indian celebrities following Rihanna’s tweet bringing attention to the farmer’s protests:

Tendulkar became the epitome of values prized in the conventional, hierarchal and self-congratulatory milieu of the middle class, showing no eagerness to challenge the many prejudices of society and state. His notion of ethics remained limited purely to the realm of his own personal conduct … this personal decency has always been accompanied by a deeply ingrained timidity towards authority, a primal fear of upsetting any establishment, whether cricketing or otherwise.

This comment on the middle class resonated with me: respect authority, don’t step out of line, don’t cause trouble, etc. Why risk being anti-authoritarian when you can maintain your place in the social hierarchy by being obedient to authority?