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Your boss doesn’t have authority over you, he’s your trading partner

The employer-employee relationship doesn’t involve authority because it is an ongoing, voluntary trade of labor for goods (typically money) or occasionally services. There is often confusion on this issue because it might appear that when a “boss” tells his employee what to do, he is exercising authority over that employee. Consider this example to help …

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Authority is always illegitimate

The concept of “authority” can be defined as the right to control someone. While the word is sometimes used in other contexts (i.e. “the leading authority on UFO sightings”), the relevant definition is “the right to control” rather than as an inexact synonym for “expert.” It is also improper to use the word to mean …