Is authoritarianism (Jeez... I've had a long, hard day, did I spell that coreckly?) likely to give rise to the use of physical force, more than a libertarian viewpoint? It seems that so often, people recount childhoods fraught with beatings, cruel punishments (isolation in cupboards, not being fed for the night, etc.), when the parent was either in a position of authority or adhered 'strictly' to this or that code or belief.
I'm wondering about it because my best riding and school chum was, along with her two sisters and brother, regularly hit by her large, charmless, often drunk, detective father. We were enjoying another friend's 11th birthday party when this man came to collect my pal and take her home. We hadn't actually managed to finish the birthday cake and he said, very roughly, "Come on, Betty. Home. Now." She turned to him and said, "Okay, just a minute, I'm finishing the cake." With that, he slapped her so hard across the face, in front of everyone, that her head snapped back and she half fell over. His eyes were bulging and he went very red and yelled, "You'll come when I say so! Now get out to the car!"
She didn't cry, she just bit her lip, put her head down, and went. I was appalled beyond belief at this display. I thought that policemen, as 'authority', were supposed to be protectors, helpers, people you'd go to if you were in trouble. It was no wonder that she loathed her father and also had little respect for her mother in those days, since the mother was often absent sitting on committees, and keeping away from the constantly tense home situation.
