Analysis Of The Occupy Wall Street Movement

The Occupy Wall Street movement is one for social justice. It aims to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in society. The group engages in peaceful protests in order to achieve a consensus among the people to build a better society in America. In regard to the Occupy Wall Street movement, I think Thomas Hobbes would like a few aspects of it, but also critique many aspects of. Thomas Hobbes, a political theorist, is the author of the Leviathan. The Leviathan explains the relationship between man, fellow men, and the government overseeing them. Some important concepts in the leviathan that will help develop my idea of Hobbes position on the Occupy Wall Street movement include: the nature of man, covenant, and a commonwealth. In the Leviathan Hobbes describes the nature of man, as he believes it to be true. The natural state of man is how mankind would act if there were no one restraining them with their power, in other words, no government ruling over them. If there were no governing body of man it would be a “war of all against all” (69). This means that all men would be battling each other for their own interests and their quest for power. Hobbes then says that this state of nature is not sustainable, but rather that it is “nasty, brutish, and short” (70). In order to avoid the downfalls

According to Hobbes, when men are not united, their natural state consumes them, and they go to war with each other (69). Although the Occupy movement has a unite front amongst themselves as a grassroots movement, I believe Hobbes would dislike that they do not have a united front with the men of Wall Street. Because they are not united with these men as well, they are waging a war amongst themselves. The Occupy Wall Street group is fighting the men of Wall Street for power over them, and are pursing their own interests rather than working