Authority's root is author which means to originate and increase.
Why would anybody want someone else to decide in which direction he wants your life to go? That's nonsense.
I see so much confusion in your post.
People can decide each for themselves while sharing same moral code. Proffesional associations, fan clubs, heard of them?*
And why to be accountable unless it's in my benefit to be? Society doesn't require accountability, it requires promise keeping which doesn't any explanation to anyone in keeping promises.
In case you haven't noticed, nested decision making council are structure of soviet union. So local council answer to regional council till top. I see no reason for Bible or Lord to require any such structure.
Did you notice you can't make any personal decision inside Soviet Union? Nope, they are group based and everyone is always accountable. As story from Mao China says, peasant is forbidden to pull out his tooth without group permission.
*Shared moral code is domain specific in above cases, but can be general too. Religious groups are example.
As for why anybody would want someone else to decide in which direction they want their life to go, it isn't nonsense,
it's the cost of being a Christian.
To be a Christian means to follow and endeavor to be more like Christ. We submit not because another man is infallible, but because God ordained shepherding as protection for the sheep in various spheres (familial, ecclesiastical and civil).
Patriarchs are not infallible.
Pastors are not infallible.
Presidents are not infallible.
Yet submission is commanded regardless, because our Author has delegated authority to others, and we are commanded to honor that.
So, respectfully,
what's nonsense is esteeming the authority of one sphere and rejecting the authority of another.
Even Christ submitted to earthly authorities, not because they were perfect, but because the Father ordained it.
If anyone who has ever walked this Earth had the right to make their own choices and be an authority unto themselves, it was the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The servants are not greater than their Master.
My friend, I would strongly encourage you to compare everything you think with what is written in the Holy Scriptures. I'm sure you mean well, but in every interaction we've had on these forums I'm noticing that you're not bringing God's Word to bear. Be a Berean (Acts 17:11) and you will be blessed.
I don't know about you, but I didn't come here to share my opinions.
I came here to be pointed to the Word and to point others to it also.
Along those lines, we're not here on Earth to simply 'advise' one another, nor are councils of elders with authority to merely offer suggestions.
Just as authority and submission are biblical concepts,
reproof is a biblical command. A curse is promised in Proverbs 1:25-28 to those who will not hear reproof. Our opinions and advice have no basis for reproof because they carry no weight and have no authority.
In order for us to reprove others, we need to have a source of authority: a standard independent of you and I that we can appeal to in order to clarify doctrine, resolve disputes, etc. We do that by comparing spiritual things with spiritual, one prooftext after another, until we've done the hard work of 'seeing if these things are so'.
Same thing with exhorting. Exhorting one another daily is a biblical command. We can't do that when every man's got his own ideas, his own standards, etc., and is content to take his ball and go home whenever he finds someone with whom he disagrees. Doing so puts people on a fast track to finding themselves alone on an island talking to a volleyball.
Grace and peace. <3