Introduction

The name is Thomas Hobbes, philosopher of the 17th century. You may be wondering how I'm creating a blog in the 21st century, all I can reveal is that it involves time travel. Fortunately for you of the 21st century, a state of nature has still been avoided.

Due to the ambiguity of the word "nature" you may be wondering as to what I'm referring. By "state of nature" I mean existence without rules, regulations, and expectations. For any who picture a quaint little utopia, you could not be more wrong. A state of nature would be a time of scarcity, chaos, and violence. Anarchy must be prevented at all costs, because this would result in a state of nature.

Government and leadership is crucial to prevent anarchy, in a world where everyone is in it for themselves, we need a third party to regulate and monitor us. Now even those in power are corrupt, but corruption is still a less objectionable outcome than anarchy and chaos.

This is the idea of a "social contract"; we agree to give up some of our rights to a leader who will guide us and keep everything somewhat orderly. For those that do not take to this idea, I bring to mind again the notion of death and destruction that would result if there were no one to rule us, and a state of nature arose. We must do everything in our power to prevent this outcome.