"I think it smacks of a desire to live within a benignly authoritarian state -- it smacks of the desire to have Someone In Charge who is unfailingly loving, and wise, and will take care of it all for you. This angle is seductive, and in my experience, not at all the case."

YES! Thank you for helping me pin down my unease with the Self as he outlines it here--it feels by nature hierarchical, which is not how we experience our system. We do want to ruminate more on the idea of leadership, as it definitely pertains to our still-developing system government, but there's a huge difference between leadership as a tool for creating momentum and leadership as Authority.