Total Domination And Forced Obedience Analysis

Total Domination and Forced Obedience Total domination and forced obedience is not a constructive or efficient way to lead others. For example, Lao-tzu says that a good leader or government should let their citizens or subjects live their lives the way they want to. “When the Master governs, the people are hardly aware that he exists.” (A World Of Ideas pg. 22) Hannah Ardent is the exact opposite. She says “Total domination, which strives to organize the infinite plurality and differentiation of human beings as if all of humanity were just one individual…” (A World Of Ideas pg.88) My personal experiences show that this is true.
Living in my house was hell, but it wasn’t always like that. Growing up my parents and I got along great.
“The Master sees things as they are, without trying to control them. She lets them go their own way…” (A World Of Ideas pg 24) This was not the case at all in my house. My parents or my mom more or less, was the judge, jury, and executioner. Whatever she said went. She made the laws that were to be obeyed by all who entered. There were occasions that she would yell at my friends for disobeying these rules. I believe that the house should be run by the parents and not the kids but as a leader or parent you have to know when you’ve crossed the line. “…governing men doesn’t try to force issues or defeat enemies by force…” (A World Of Ideas pg. 24) My mom had no idea where the line was and she didn’t have any mercy to those unaware of these rules. Lao-tzu believed that a leader should sit aside and let the people live their lives the way they wanted to and only to intervene when the people needed help. “The Master does his job and then stops.” (A World Of Ideas pg. 24) I agree with this theory. A good leader, whether it’d be of a country or a household, should know when to help their followers and when to back off and let them live their lives. Lao-tzu also entrusted the citizens in doing the right thing when faced with temptations to do bad things. No matter what I would tell my mom she wouldn’t believe it, she had to have proof. And there was no proving her wrong, because she always had an excuse if she was wrong. If
“…transforming the human personality into a mere thing, into something that even animals are not…” (A World Of Ideas pg.88-89) In a way my mother believed the same thing. She would scream and yell, striking fear into her children to achieve total domination over her kids. This only made matters worse over the years. Little by little what respect her children had for her began to fade. My mother, for some reason thought that yelling at us would make us do a better job. Instead of asking she demanded. And if her demands weren’t met, all hell broke loose. Using total domination is not the method to go with if you want respect. People can only take so much before they become sick of it. This, in my opinion, causes rebellion in people. You can’t cage a person up, treating them poorly for that time and then release them and believe they will still respect and obey you. They’re going to run as far as they can, never wanting to return. I’m in no way trying to compare my house to a concentration camp. My life is easy compared to what the prisoners of the concentration camps went through, although some of the methods used in a concentration camp are related to the same of my mother. “…sufferings, that is, that transform men into uncomplaining animals.” (A World Of Ideas pg. 89) Tearing a person down and making them believe that they’re not worth a thing can be very affective