• SpookyBogMonster@lemmy.ml
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    1 day ago

    Eh, can’t say I agree with Thomas Hobbes on this. ICE is acting in the exact opposite of the state of nature, they’re the violent arm of the sovereign

    • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
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      1 day ago

      That’s a blatant misunderstanding of what a Hobbesian sovereign is. According to Hobbes, a sovereign is a form of body politic derived from the consent of the governed. People form civilizations, understanding that by abiding by common agreements they can mutually improve the conditions and circumstances of their lives. Everyone is safer when we agree not to kill each other, and anyone who violates that norm loses the protection of the social contract. Hence, capital punishment as a penalty for murder.

      What ICE is doing is violating the social contract and acting without the consent of the governed (bypassing congressional approval/oversight, ignoring established laws and constitutional rights, etc.). In effect, they’re regressing us back to the conditions of the state of nature in which “might makes right” and “survival of the fittest,” conditions which the social contract originated in order to overcome.

      • kureta@lemmy.ml
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        1 day ago

        That Goebbels-looking-ass dude literally said “might makes right” on a live TV interview.