Social Democracy

I believe that the least dystopian form of government is a social democracy. A social democracy is based on the accepted condition that all citizens should be legally entitled to certain rights. These rights include access to public services, like education, healthcare, public transportation, and childcare. I think that these basic needs being the responsibility of the state is ultimately utopian for all, as every person can share these resources and get their fare share.

In Leviathan, Hobbes says that, “in the nature of man we find three principal causes of quarrel. First, competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory.” A social democracy goes a long way to address these causes. In a society where basic needs are met, people have no reason to compete for resources, thus making competition not life or death. If a society is centered around the collective, and making sure every one has the tools they need to survive, diffidence would be rare, as people feel more security in their lives and in each other. Lastly, glory would not invite quarrel in the form of violence and death, when there is less inequality. Glory can also be a motivator for better, more productive, and more beneficial things, both for the individual(s) and society.

In the inverse, Hobbes also describes the passions that incline men to peace: “fear of death, desire of such things as are necessary to commodious living, and a hope by their industry to obtain them.” This is also supporting evidence of my claim. In a social democracy, if all needs are met, including food, shelter, and healthcare, no citizen need fear death every day. Each member of society would be given things necessary for living, and thus be drawn to peace in order to maintain them. Violence and conflict would only risk tearing down the society itself.

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