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We all know that government plays an important role in our lives. But if you were to go back in time and ask Thomas Hobbes what kind of role government in our lives he would definitely say more than just "an important part". You see, Hobbes said that basically the government controls all in social contract ethics. Initially, mankind had no government organization. We were all out in the wild just trying to survive, doing what ever it took to stay alive. Hobbes said that we all seek our own self-interest and that is the basic law that drives our lives. The State of Nature is a state of continual was between men. Since life is poor, solitary, brutish, and harsh we end up doing all that we can to go against all of these negatives; self-interest in action. In the wild there is not right and wrong, only alive and dead. Because of the way life is, we try to figure out how to change it. That is what led us to government. Essentially, you either have anarchy, which is nor government, or totalitarianism, which is when government runs all. Most of us would choose totalitarianism. This means that we choose to live in a government that controls everything. We do this for protection. In return we give up our liberty and power. If we didn't do this we would be left out in the wild to fend for ourselves. This is where we get our ethics. The government gives us our ethics. According to Hobbes, the best government is a totalitarian monarchy. This is because having a single ruler means that ruler can hold secrets better and act quickly. Hobbes does say, though, that being ruled by a small group is also okay. When we agree to be ruled by a government, we make a contract among the people. The ruler, called the leviathan (just like the title of his famous book), does not have any deal with the people. What happens is that people agree among themselves that they will do what the leviathan says, period. This also means that you can attempt to leave your leviathan to be ruled be another leviathan. Notice the use of the world "attempt". Your current leviathan has every right to do what he/she wants, which includes doing everything that he/she can to keep you under his/her rule. This is perfectly okay since you have no contract with leviathan, just with the people being ruled by leviathan. |