Morning Comrades.
Kicking off where we left the discussion on Monday, rather than wasting everyones time being sidetracked and artificially enraged about shit that doesn’t matter, let’s dig into one of the underlying concepts that shaped the world here in the “west” as we know it and deconstruct it: The Social Contract.
I am a little surprised that we haven’t done this already and I checked the last three years of writing on here but hey, no time like today I presume. Before you click off and wonder why you should invest another ten minutes of your day reading about history, concepts and other lofty shit that doesn’t pay your rent - hey, I get it, this won’t do that, immediately in any case but it will help sharpen your mental blade when it comes reckoning with your landlord, or sort of, for legal reasons. Importantly, these deconstructions are important insofar that they show how much of our material experience is underwritten by ideas of rich white men to get richer, and in the case of the 17th Century, actually get whiter ( insert make up joke - and a take on masculinity, something I’ll deal with on Friday ).
The social contract is a philosophical concept that describes the implicit agreement between individuals and their society. It means that people give up certain freedoms and abide by rules in exchange for the protection and benefits provided by living within a community.
The idea of the social contract dates back to ancient times, but it was most notably explored by philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau during the Enlightenment period in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Thomas Hobbes introduced the concept in his work "Leviathan," arguing that people agree to be governed to avoid the "state of nature," which he saw as a state of conflict and chaos. John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau further developed the idea, emphasizing the protection of natural rights and the notion of the general will, respectively. Their writings significantly influenced modern political thought and the development of democratic societies.
And it is mostly a lot of bullshit not only in theory, but most definitely in praxis. Let’s get into it.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Black Lodges to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.