Utopians

Michael Smith

"Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of war, where every man is enemy to every man, the same consequent to the time wherein men live without other security than what their own strength and their own invention shall furnish them withal. In such condition there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Hobbes speaks of war in the literal sense, as warring was common in the Europe of the day - the thirty years of the Franco-Spanish War was just coming to an end, but there were other conflicts spread all over at the time.

Of course, we are engaged in wars almost continually, but these seem to be less than wars past because of the remoteness of them. For most people, they are dethatched, virtual processes with qualities of videogames. Unless you are in, or have family in, the military, these contemporary wars never touch your life.

I would not assume those wars to be analogous to Hobbes' understanding, but nevertheless we are engaged in an ongoing war for the domination and direction of our neighborhoods, towns, cities, states, nation and more importantly, the dominion over our very self.

This is urban, door to door warfare conducted throughout our institutions with the goal of subduing and capturing minds.

When I read the referenced passage, my mind's eye sees our current national landscape.

The other aspect is one that has been true since Plato penned "The Republic", those proclaiming the loudest to be delivering Utopia to the people always deliver exactly the opposite.

Tim adds:

Wars are endlessly simmering these days. That is a function of the lethality of weaponry; nobody dares the old, open approach to war any longer. So we have dirty wars, insurgencies and the like. Add to that the old Soviet policy of setting brushfires around the world and you end up with a world eternally at war. One wonders if this isn't intended by the Progressives; as Huxley pointed out, the rulers in his dystopian Brave New World wanted a bunch of pinpricks in the pipe to relieve pressure. So instead of any grand passions the people had pale pleasures. I don't know,, it may be the endless simmering war is designed to keep us from having a big one. But it has changed Mankind and society in horrible ways. I would add most of the Prgoressives belief in Plato's Philosopher King; that is the basis of the emerging technocracy. It has never worked and never will, but it won't stop utopians from trying. Too many of them do not believe in God or in a reward in an afterlife, so they must build Heaven on Earth. They can't bear the thought of the world remaining as it is, nasty, brutish, and with a mercifully short life span. So they meddle with everyones lives believing they can "make a difference" when in fact they just wreck everything.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 08:27 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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