Oddbean new post about login | logout I think obedience is an underrated virtue today. Of course, we ought not be obedient to wrongful authority. Perhaps the line that children must be taught to walk is to recognize right from wrong authority. In general, though, it is good to subject ourselves even to others' wishes, so long as they do not conflict with reason or with other responsibilities, rather than to insist upon our own way. Again, though, this all must be nuanced given the circumstances in which we live.
I think obedience is the source of basically ALL of the greatest atrocities in human history. Obedience is our primary problem today, "news" stations all repeat the exact same talking points without question. The covid plandemic would not have been possible without a tremendous amount of worldwide obedience. Recognizing right & wrong has nothing to do with obedience & everything to do with knowing how to actually think & being grounded in logic & reason & sound moral principles. The only legitimate authority is reality & by extension the people who align themselves with reality & can explain the logic & reason & principles behind their positions.
With all things in life I believe in balance. I suppose I could agree with that. I think there is a time for obedience and a time for violent defiance, the importance is a clear distinction when one or the other is necessary. Another part as @Jeff Swann suggested is the abuse during covid times. I wonder if this is more of a confidence issue than anything, in my circles we were not very obedient but probably could have done more. I think it might be more about a long term position that affords you the ability to rebel without fear of losing everything you have. Honestly I blame most of that on debt/inflation, but that's a different talk
We should not be blindly obedient, to be sure (unless perhaps you've taken a bow to that extent, but that's a different matter). However, it is good for us and good for our neighbors if we are generally obedient to legitimate authority. In my estimation, during covid governments overreached their legitimate authority, and disobedience to those governments was actually required out of obedience to higher ideals. Even then, though, prudence was required. It serves no one to be obstinate all the time, so we have to pick our battles.