About The Guru Papers

What if most of the world's ills, from racism to ecological destruction to the breakdown of the family, could be traced to a single, root cause? Sound too simplistic or far-fetched? Not according to Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad, authors of THE GURU PAPERS: MASKS OF AUTHORITARIAN POWER (North Atlantic Books). At the core of all these problems, the pair contends, is "hidden authoritarianism," a force they say also compels people to join dangerous cults.

"Obvious, political authoritarianism based on physical coercion gets all the attention because it's brutal," says Alstad. "But covert authoritarian control is far more pervasive and dangerous because it takes over people's minds."

Those who try to wield this form of manipulation, Alstad explains, tend to promote moral codes that fly in the face of self-gratification and self-esteem. Buddhism's philosophy of selflessness or the Christian notion of original sin are examples of unlivable ideals that villainize normal human behavior, Alstad states. But carried to extremes, this sort of authority can also result in dangerous cult activity--the People's Temple in Jonestown and the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, she says, come to mind.

The problem is, says Kramer, "Once people feel they are fundamentally flawed, it's easy for authority figures to step in and tell them how to live. The danger is that, without a sense of self, the most vulnerable may look for "magical" saviors, be they gurus, channelers, or E.T."

According to the authors, hidden authoritarianism is a social virus that, like a computer virus, causes our basic human operating system--including such elements as the sense of right and wrong and self-control--to break down. "This faulty operating system," says Alstad, "has produced malfunctions at all levels. So it's not surprising that we are experiencing epidemics of addiction and depression in the personal realm, and a planet that seems out of control."

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