Is American government more Lockean or Hobbesian?

Question

Is the American governmental system influenced more by Locke or Hobbes? Does it appear to be changing? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

You know what, I was about to say neither...
..... but I thought about it, and the keyword "Hobbesian"
turned me on to what you were actually asking.

I'm guessing you're asking are we more driven by competition than anything else...... and I think that the answer is actually yes.

I think that in the end, after all is said and done..... when every American retreats back to his abode, to his private life, and far away from whatever issues they were supporting or fighting against... In the end, it's about the bread and butter of life.

At the end of the day, I drive home in a convertible sports car, home to an air-conditioned house running at a comfortable 72 degrees. I turn on my 500 channel television and wittle some time away. My fridge is stocked with food, and on my days off, I'm going to go out and spend whatever money I don't have to save.

For a lot of middle and upper-class American, the biggest concern is not how to survive the next week, but rather, what to do and where to go to spend our money.

We have so much, and we get so much free time. It doesn't matter what we say in public, it doesn't matter what our beliefs are, at the end of the day, we all retreat to the same comforts that a lot of people in other societies don't get.

Same thing with politicians. A lot of the ones holding higher offices usually have some serious business ties. A lot of them are rich as hell, and a lot more of them have friends who are rich as hell, who have no problem supporting them both morally and financially.

But think about it, at the end of the day, and the end of their terms, these people all retreat to comfort and luxury. Sure, we hear about politicians in the US fighting with each other, with the rest of the world, but when was the last time you saw one go on a hunger strike? When was the last time you saw someone come down at the street level, be more like Cesar Chavez and less like a friggin celebrity?

Don't think I'm going nowhere with all of this, I have a definite point : Our entire country runs on producing the most at the cheapest price..... it's why we've actually been making unprecedented market gains post 9/11, despite the fact that not everyone who was laid off got their jobs back. Look at the largest companies in the US, they all have production and manufacturing done in countries like China and Mexico.

I'm serious, the next time you want an American car, or a popular Japanese brand (Nissan or Toyota) go to Mexico, and you'll find the exact same cars for sale there..... seeing as their plants not only serve all of Mexico and central America, but the US as well.

And China? They've been manufacturing pretty much everything in the world for quite a while now. Even service jobs are being exported. How many companies have call centers in India? Even computer work is being imported from China and India. Software factories exist right along the call centers, and their programmers do the same jobs we do for 20% of our price.

Shouldn't this be proof enough that the US isn't based so much on the idea of natural rights, or natural laws, but rather, unrestricted capitalism on a global scale? If you want to call that Hobbesian, per standard albeit incorrect definition, that's perfectly fine. If I had to categorize it, I'd almost call it "Rand-ian." It's a fact that the biggest companies in the US unabashedly cut every single cost corner, and sell at the absolute highest price they can while still keeping consumer attraction.

So, I guess, yeah, sign me up for capitalism.
Even if it makes the country implode, I'm pretty sure we're going to defend capitalism all the way until our timely demise as a nation.

Answer 2

Locke and Hobbes should both be recognized as whose writings helped bulid the American Government system. For who was more influential, I'm going to say Locke since it seems his name was brought up by the founding fathers then Hobbes' was. However, that is just my opinion.

Answer 3

who?