The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed that man, in his natural state, would constantly be at war with his fellow man. Hobbes said, "the life of man would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." This was his rationale behind the construction of Leviathan. Leviathan was the metaphor Hobbes used to describe the artificial body that is the state. Its sometimes beastly demeanor was justified by its role in keeping the peace. Hobbes felt that since keeping the peace was the primary responsibility of the state, that all power should be granted to the state to obtain that goal, and whatever rights the people might have should take a back seat to that authority. What good is a right without security?
In recent years, the American people have been conditioned to support this view of government. To fight crime and now terrorism, Americans are allowing the government to become a Leviathan. This is what is offered as a trade-off to securing whatever rights remain after the government is given more power. Every time a bill is passed in the name of fighting crime or terrorism, Americans lose just a little bit more of their democracy. America becomes the leader in the world in locking people up, and who is protesting? A functioning democracy should not have this crime problem. Yet, people accept this policy as necessary for the same reason most Americans accepted that the war in Iraq was necessary, because the authorities told them so. Since those in power feel that it is thanks to the government that we have our freedoms, not our founding fathers or even those who actually do the work to make America what it is, they have no fear that anyone would dare question them when they say that the power lies in their hands to make everything right. Certainly an educated electorate who understood what democracy was made of, would have misgivings about any authority making such claims. Not in America however. There was only one person,Senator Feingold, who spoke out against the flaws in the Patriot Act!
The problem that inevitably arises is when we find out that our Leviathan is more talk than substance. This was one of the main points in my novel Preemptive Strike. Why should the character Paul submit to the rules of the state when the state is incapable of protecting him or his daughter from becoming victims of the Russian Mafia? Should he not be allowed to take certain liberties to secure his rights? Most states would say no. They'd like to be the hero, the savior, and the solution.
Every election season brings the promise by politicians that they will keep the people safe. This message is very popular despite the fact that these politicians have failed miserably. We won't focus on 9/11, which occurred only five years after the 1996 Anti terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act was passed, or the incompetent response by government to hurricane Katrina, after billions were spent creating a Department of Homeland Security that was supposed to coordinate government agencies so that they would work together better during a disaster. Instead of these easy pickings, I will focus on crime, where many are convinced Leviathan has had some success, by being a beast on criminals.
The numbers aren't as impressive as our government would have people believe. Leviathan has its own propaganda machine and far too many people are benefiting from the current policy to bother and question the conventional wisdom. To put things in perspective, let me use a football analogy. Let's say the Green Bay Packers put up 50 points on the Chicago Bears in a beat down. Then, the next game they play against each other, the Packers win but score twenty percent less points. Would the sports columnists in Chicago hail the defense as improving since this time they only gave up 40 points? If a sports columnist dared utter such a foolish claim, Bears fans would hang him in effigy, or think he had a sick sense of humor. Yet, when it comes to murders in our nation's cities where the numbers are often much greater than 50 and represent something far more significant than points in a football game, politicians applaud themselves when the numbers go down from say 115 to 100 in a city like Milwaukee, Wisconsin or from 550 to 475 in a city like Chicago. Should Leviathan be allowed to boast about these numbers? When the murder rates go back up, shall we cut down on Leviathan's consumption? We feed Leviathan with much money and power and should expect a reasonable return on the investment. Does the average American feel safe after dark in any large inner city? Hold on! After billions spent and millions incarcerated we aren't safe? Is it not true that anyone can be struck by crime anywhere; at work, at school, at home? Is Leviathan really protecting us?
