To occupy public functions - Le bon

The working man no longer wishes to remain a working man,
or the peasant to continue a peasant, while the most humble
members of the middle classes admit of no possible career for
their sons except that of State-paid functionaries. Instead of
preparing men for life French schools solely prepare them to
occupy public functions, in which success can be attained without
any necessity for self-direction or the exhibition of the least
glimmer of personal initiative. At the bottom of the social ladder
the system creates an army of proletarians discontented with
their lot and always ready to revolt, while at the summit it brings
into being a frivolous bourgeoisie, at once sceptical and credulous,
having a superstitious confidence in the State, whom it
regards as a sort of Providence, but without forgetting to display
towards it a ceaseless hostility, always laying its own faults to the
door of the Government, and incapable of the least enterprise
without the intervention of the authorities.

Today I had a very interesting conversation with my student about authority figures. I asked her how she normally reacts to authority figures whenever she is threatened by them. She, in a monotonous tone, answered, "I simply obey." I asked her why and to that she said, "because I don't want them to be angry anymore."

I believe this is generally the case with a lot of young adolescents. They are not necessarily threatened by the unrealistic, intimidating words of what-will-happen-if-you-dont coming from the authority figures, rather they just want to console the tantrums of these so-called authority figures because they are impressionably loud and make everyone's ears bleed.