In an environment of total positivity, the caregiver guides the child from complete dependence at birth, toward complete independence at around six years, carefully monitoring the child's developing capacities along the way. As each new capacity develops, the caregiver is ready to propel the child another step toward complete independence, the natural state of individuals and community members, humanity at full potential.
The caregiver's awareness of the child's capacity potential is lost when the caregiver becomes an authority and begins cultivating the child's dependence rather than its independence, even after capacities develop.The authority is unlikely to stop with his children, and eventually turns attention to other members of his family and then to his entire tribe, turning himself into tribal chief, by cultivating the dependence of those striving to maintain their independence. The tribal chief thereby creates a vicious circle of dependence and incompetence that deteriorates the self-sufficiency and self-esteem of tribal members.
When the tribal chief departs further from his true nature, he settles the tribe into a village and encourages their domestication/exploitation of plants and animals, and he designates himself the village chief. This exploitation escalates conflict with animals, and encourages departure of men to hunt animals for food, alienating themeselves from the women, children and elderly back in the village.
The vicious circle enlarges, and the negatives multiply, and the village chief concieves of organizing his village to compete with neighboring villages, to expand the size of his village at their expense, and to organize armies of warriors for conflict. The village chief then become king of the city, and then of the city-state, and then creates courts of law, and expands the role of warriors to enforce the law.
By now, we have the familiar civilization, where members are required to view themselves as totally inadequate, to underpin their support for the king, to maintain the stability of the kingdom, lest it fail its artificial dependents, and itself fall to competing kingdoms. The show goes on and on...
In all our thoughts, choices and actions, in all our principles and practices, cultures and traditions, societies and systems, institutions and infrastructure, will we build our faith in humanity, or our dependence on authority? Will we participate positively in nature's order-building process, respecting all of life's intrinsic worth and free will, and discover, nurture and achieve our full potential?