Chaos, Contracts and Control

Chaos, Contracts and Control

Can Society be Left Unchained?

J. A. McCreery

“If the war’s impossible to end, then we have to control it indefinitely … In any scenario, it’s preferable to have the upper hand, to be the victor rather than the defeated.”

~ Collins

There is a freedom that can be found in anarchism – no laws, no restrictions, no questions – but I find the fear of it so much more striking. To leave society unbound is an ultimate act of faith in humanity, a faith that seems misplaced. Power is what holds the world together, a series of tacit threats and social contracts which dissuade dissent, reward conformity, and provide grand structures to vest faith in.  

  • Chaos

Without boundaries, what are we?

Without homes, jobs, responsibilities – only a primal need to hunt and forage – what are we?

Will your neighbour lend you his hand when the food runs dry?

Would you expect tax to be paid if no reprimand was given?

  • Contracts 

You raise your hand to speak in class.

You use common goods sparingly. 

Being part of a liberal society ironically involves submitting to the general will – a force that transcends individuals and aims to uphold the common good. 

“man is born free, and he is everywhere in chains”

~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau in The Social Contract (1762); a seminal inspiration for political reform and revolt in Europe, especially France.
  • Control

To have it is to inevitably deny another. 

To wield it is to have safety. 

To hold safety is to hold freedom.

To hold freedom is to be in power.

Humanity may not be a static force, but there are prevailing features that never sway; a cunning side born from self-preservation is perhaps the most vicious. To temper this side, this chaos, in others through agreement and mutual benefit, is key to security. But this comes at a cost, a submission which is enforced more implicitly now than ever, where the war drums become media and the slaves turned to a middle class. It is an indefinite process of garnering control which, however, one might struggle, will only end as humans do.