David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

come away angry and disillusioned.
Why? Because the punishment is
completely arbitrary. He can’t speak up
and give his own side of the story. And
wants to learn. If that little boy became
defiant, it was because his teacher made
him that way, just as Stella turned an
eager and attentive student into someone
who did cartwheels across the floor.
When people in authority want the rest
of us to behave, it matters—first and
foremost—how they behave.
This is called the “principle of
legitimacy,” and legitimacy is based on
three things. First of all, the people who
are asked to obey authority have to feel
like they have a voice—that if they