Why Is Hobbes Considered A Strict Government

Michael Gilmore
Mrs. Sauter
World History
15 December 2014

• Topic 1 o Thomas Hobbes
 Unite under one person, or a group of people
• “To stop foreigners and the inquiries of others”
• Hobbes came to the conclusion that people were naturally evil. o If not kept in check by a powerful ruler, they will steal, fight, and oppress one another. o Thomas Hobbes was an enlightenment thinker who lived in the 17th century, and through the upheaval of the English Civil War. From observing the Civil war, Hobbes concluded that people are “naturally cruel, greedy, and selfish” (Ellis 183). Hobbes argued that a strict government was the only way to control people because without it, they would fight, steal, and oppress each other. Thomas Hobbes says that the only way to keep the people at bay is to have them obey strict laws. His favored government would be an absolute monarch because it “could impose order and compel obedience” (Ellis 183). In this government, the people would be under harsh laws which would give them little access
to their freedom.
• John Locke o A two part government
 Executive and Legislature powers
 Men are born equal to each other
 They are governed by reason and seek the preservation of man o John Locke, like Thomas Hobbes, was born in the 17th century and witnessed the English Civil War.
However, Locke took a different view on the matter. Unlike Hobbes, Locke supports the people, and believed them to be reasonable, rather than a firm government. Locke believed that all people had certain unalienable rights from the moment of birth called natural rights. These rights included life, liberty and property. Because of this, Locke’s ultimate government would be one by the people, for the people. He states that the power of the ruler is directly derived from the people and not form anywhere else. He also states that individuals have the right to own property. That right can never be taken away without the individual’s consent. Since his government is for the people, if the ruler gets too greedy and attempts to remove the subject’s natural born rights, the people have the ability and authority to resist and dispose of
him.
 The Ideas of Adam Smith would be most profound in John Locke’s idea of a perfect government. This is so because, like Locke, Smith was highly set on the people. Adam Smith supported an idea called “Classical Liberalism” which was set on the idea of a limited government and the liberty of the individual. Which means that he supported “…freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and free market” (Princeton University). Adam Smith strongly disagreed with a system that increased the wealth of the state, but he was all for the majority of the people. He realized if the people worked for themselves first, then both the people and the state would prosper. He believed in a system where the people worked for their own share in a free market and, thus, would lead to a stronger economy.

• Karl Marx o Karl Marx, a German Philosopher, proposed the idea of “Scientific Socialism”. This mean that the existing social classes would cause a struggle and eventually led to a classless society. This meant that all of the means of production would be owned by the community. Marx’s idea of a government was one based on economic production rather than social standings, where the economic standings were the foundation of all government.