Over the summer, I met a true-to-the-bone anarchist. My
curiosity led to us spending many an evening discussing politics and why he was
so sure no government was better than any
governing body whatsoever. I certainly did not expect to be reminded of
these talks when reading about Hobbes’ pro-monarchial political philosophy, yet
one similarity surprisingly materialized. Each ideology places an enormous
amount of trust in human nature; an amount I personally find outrageously unwarranted
and unrealistic! I agree with Hobbes’ predictions of the constant warfare that
would result from anarchy, because conflict is in our nature, yet Hobbes’
ideology comes full circle and assumes absolute surrender to one sovereign will
result in absolute peace. Oddly enough, I actually agree with both camps when
they say that if the world were under their system, all would be well; I simply
disagree that either plan is achievable, and therefore see no point in pursuing
them. Humans will always end up forming a government, and all governments are
prone to corruption.
On a
bit of a side note, I find it interesting how blueprints for “the perfect
society” keep showing up all throughout philosophy’s history. Plato certainly
seemed to think he had the recipe correct. Since his day, countless others
claim to have made one of the right philosophical stuff. One thread pervades nearly all: they will
cordially provide happiness for all, and only charge the meager fee of giving
up everything it means to be truly human.
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