Thomas Hobbes

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   Without a strong state, human life is filled with violence, poverty, and constant fear.

   Leviathan · 1651

   Without a powerful state to impose order, human life inevitably becomes a war of all against all.

   Hobbes describes the natural state of humanity—a world without government, laws, or authority. In this situation, everyone fights for survival, and limited resources lead to perpetual conflict. The mechanism is lack of trust: no one can be sure that another will not attack, so everyone lives in fear. For example, in a civil war zone, people are afraid to leave home, have no access to safe food, and live only for the next moment.

   “The life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

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