I don't mind real authority. In fact, I can appreciate it.
I've always had an issue with political or otherwise artificial "authority", though. And it has affected my life in many ways-- some good, some bad.
Back when I was free to seek conventional employment, this limited my options. But it also kept me out of trouble several times by keeping me skeptical of people or organizations that it turned out would have been really bad for me to be involved with.
Just about anything has good and bad sides, including the word "authority".
I'm not sure how wise it is to use the same word to describe experts (autual authorities) and bullies (political "authorities"), though, since those aren't even close to being the same things. But I see this problem with many other words, as well.
