Hello there Erika :)

Thank you , once again, for taking the time to share your insights here with me/us. Your observation about obedience to authority being something that may happen outside of conscious awareness brings to mind some of the evolutionary psychology readings I have done. Following leaders have proved adaptive to humans and their evolutionary history of development in tribal communities. Consequently, as @aboutcoolscience remarked point blank in this very thread: "it is how we are wired".

The description of your co-worker's behaviour illustrates human's susceptibility to treat others inhumanely just because they have been assigned to a specific role. And of course, as you highlighted, especially when someone's idea of being a leader is limited and synonym to oppression.

I was fascinated by your self-reflection: your acknowledgement of having some of that which repulses you in you. That is precisely the aim of Taoism. It is this sort of reflection, I believe, that prepare us with the strength to be compassionate towards those who we are not particularly fond of.

And the queries you left for us here truly pave the way towards that path.

Thank you for this comment Erika!
Much love to you all the way from Portugal ❤😊