Hobbes
Here I am talking of the great philosopher Thomas, not Calvin’s buddy.
Hobbes famously said that without government to maintain order, the life of man is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.”
Recently a liberal and a conservative were doing verbal battle in the comments section of a prominent online news outlet that had posted a liberal leaning opinion piece on the proper roll of government in the modern era.
The conservative piped in that we needed less government and more personal responsibility instead of the opposite.
The liberal shot back that having less government would cause us to return to a ‘Hobbesian world’.
I felt compelled to jump in on the side of my unknown conservative mate as follows:
Hobbes pokes his head up whenever there is either essentially no government (think Africa) or there is too much government (think China, or the USSR before the fall).
Government’s job is to protect people, not to take care of them. When government fails to protect them, you get Africa. When it starts trying to take care of them, you get the USSR.
It’s the Goldilocks principle:
This government is too small (anarchy).
This government is too big (government enforced collectivism, crony capitalism).
This government is just right (Constitutionally limited. Rule of law. Property rights. Contract enforcement. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness)
We need ‘just right’ government. Our current government was formed because we were suffering from ‘too small’ government. The Constitution was the result and an attempt to create ‘just right’ government. Over the years we have allowed it to move into the ‘too big’ category. Moving it back will not unleash Hobbes. It will make sure he stays in his cage.
