A Society without a Formal
Authority In the seventeenth century, European soldiers who
came across some Indian groups in the western Great Lakes found that several
native tribes were living in the area without a formal leadership system. They
appeared to be "quite friendly with each other without a formal authority
! Not only did the Indians appear to lack a formal system of
authority, but they also deeply hated any efforts to control their actions. All
members of the tribes knew what was required of them by lifelong familiarity
with the tasks of the area. These tasks tended to be simple, since the Indian’s
rate of social change was slow. Thus, although subgroups such as soldiers had
recognized leaders, no real authority was required. Rather than giving direct
orders (which were considered rough), members of the tribes would arouse others
to action by examples. It would be difficult, if not impossible,
to carry out such a system in our own society. Most of us have grown up under
one authority or another for as long as we can remember. Our parents, our
teachers, our bosses, our government all have the recognized right under certain
conditions to tell us what to do. The authority is so much a part of our culture
that it is hard for us to imagine a workable society without it. We have been
used to relying on authority to get things done and would probably be
uncomfortable with the Indian methods of examples on a large scale.
Of course, the major reason why the Indian system would not be suitable
for us is that our society is too large. The number of tasks that various
members of our society have to perform often under tight time and resource
limitations could not be treated by the Indian system. In modern societies, the
formal authority system is necessary to achieve any social
objectives.
Which of the following statements is correct according to the passage
A．From 1710 to 1780, European soldiers came across some Indian groups in the western Great Lakes. B．European soldiers were quite friendly to the Indian groups. C．The Indian groups had no leaders. D．The Indian groups only obeyed their own gods.
