Leviathan

The idea of a social contract matters, of civil society. Would one prefer some kind of ideal like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness or a permanent state of violent chaos?

Check out what Thomas Hobbes wrote about living without any order or rules or social contracts or government whatsoever:

"where every man is Enemy to every man; the same is consequent to the time, wherein men live without other security, than what their own strength . . . no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continuall feare, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short."

-- Hobbes, Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, 1651.

In 2013, let's take something as basic as water. If there were no rules on water usage, what do you suppose would happen during this year's droughts? If there was no government service, how do you suppose people would acquire water on a daily basis in most places? Yet destruction of government is exactly what Tea Party ideology stands for. Yes, ideas matter -- especially when put into practice.

Today's Rune: Defense.