It's good to be back..

Hello again,

I guess I should say “Happy New Year” to everyone... This is pretty ridiculous because I haven’t been here in about two years. However, I’m feeling the impulse to write again partly because I see my friend, Dipo, writing furiously (He is a Man U fan so you all can understand the frustration. In my opinion, his blog is hilarious. Visit www.dipoogun.com when you have the chance). I have also been inspired by someone I won’t mention… yet. Anyways, things are changing... For one thing, I’m back in the country which gives me a first-hand view of how bad things are but I’m not going to talk about that today.

Those who know me know that I fancy myself to be something of a philosopher – I once took an IQ test (back in those days when I was obsessed with my own brilliance) that said I was a “Visionary Philosopher”.  I will tell you that my score was pretty high but that’s all I’m saying. Anyways, in the last 8 months, I've taken a very active interest in philosophy, especially in how it affects politics and shapes political systems all around the world. One thing that seems to stand out to me is that a lot of political systems are influenced by the way people see the world. I have been most influenced by Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau so I will use them as examples.

Thomas Hobbes believes that the natural human state is one of war – that in a world with no law, we would constantly be at each other’s throats and people would only do what is in their own best interests. Being a believer in the fact that people respond to incentives, you can see how this view would be appealing to me. Thomas Hobbes’ solution was to give up some of this freedom to a third party, a monarchy if you will, who would make sure that there was peace. This would involve the monarch having absolute authority (apparently, he believed in the divine right of kings which is probably why he was against the French revolution in the late 1700s). So in Thomas Hobbes view, law is something that inhibits freedom. This makes sense because if we were constantly at war, we wouldn't have a moment’s rest and while we would be “free”, this “freedom” could be taken from us at any time and nothing would be done about it. It is therefore in the best interests of the people to limit their freedom so they can have peace. This seems to be in line with what one philosopher, whose name I can’t remember, said – “All laws are necessary evils” This is because every law will alienate some people and limit their freedoms… It is therefore the job of government to pass those which do that the least.

Jean Jacques Rousseau, on the other hand, believed that man’s state of nature was very peaceful – in fact, he compared us to wild animals. He believed that the introduction of private property created divisions among men and this led to the state of nature described by Thomas Hobbes. Apart from this though, the key difference in these philosophies of nature is that Rousseau believed that instead of limiting freedoms, laws enhanced them because they brought us closer to that state of nature. In creating laws, Rousseau also advocated a social contract with a ruling body but had misgivings about an absolute monarchy (which makes sense given what we are seeing in Syria today). He also advocated breaking the social contract if the ruling body was not doing its duties (It wouldn't surprise you that he supported the French revolution). It is also worth noting that Hobbes grew up in war time England while Rousseau grew up in peaceful (is there any other way to describe it?) Switzerland.

Why am I saying these things? Ultimately, it comes back to our political system in this country. Given what you know now, who do you think is correct about man’s natural state? Hobbes or Rousseau? And how would you apply said state of nature in formulating a political system for Nigeria? And if you don’t agree with either of them, propose a system based on your beliefs.

I’d really like to know what you all think.

Honestly, if I had only one wish (apart from constant power, law enforcement, good Wi-Fi… man, I miss that) it would be that philosophy and history are made mandatory subjects in our secondary schools. In my opinion, philosophy doesn't just teach you what to think about, it teaches you HOW to think. It teaches you to question everything and to arrive at conclusions that make sense to you.

From time to time, I’ll post stuff like this just because I can. Ahh… It’s good to be back.

See you around,

Moyo.