Decoding Hobbes: Leviathan and Colonial Ideology

Political theory places a large focus on Thomas Hobbes and his concept of the Leviathan. This theory is that existing in the “state of nature” creates a life that is “poor, nasty, brutish, and short”, so people should instead give up part of their liberty and join a leviathan (state) that will serve their best interests. This concept places an utmost importance in the state and calls for the necessity of citizens to have blind faith in said institution while dispelling anything that lies beyond. It also creates an inherent othering and moral hierarchy that labels everything that is not “in” as evil. This dichotomy is a colonial ideology. It creates a paradox that the concepts of “uncivilized” and “civilized” cannot inherently exist without

He assumes that they no grasp of agency and thus is surprised when they manage to pull a prank on him, coordinated by the whole tribe. His response is childish and embarrassing and speaks for the mindset that Americans have about cultures and the harmful consequences of labeling as the other. This also reflects the harmful ways in which American society educates their leaders if he still had this reaction despite being a distinguished ethnographer. “Christmas in the Kalahari”, the Ted Talk, and “the Heart of Darkness” provide a foundational insight for why Americans have their beliefs about other countries in such a distancing way. Thus having this knowledge about baseline assumptions and stereotypes will allow me to effectively examine the more concrete and absolute ways in which this behavior affects peace and conflict and lived experience on a more global

The United States, afraid of the domino effect and losing other nations to communism, used Latin America as a place to fight a proxy war with the Soviet Union. Othering these countries and using their populations as chess pieces in their Cold War stalemate, the United States created a significant amount of unsolved problems throughout Central America. The effects of this othering and blatant disregard for actual human life and experiences are still seen today. Latin America is the only region of the world where homicides are rising. The region constitutes 8% of the world’s population but contains ⅓ of the homicides. In the case of El Salvador as documented by the documentary La Sierra, the country was struggling a lot due to the post Cold War legacy. Salvadoran immigrants moved to Southern California where on the fringes of society due to difficulty integrating into “mainstream American culture” they were exposed to gang culture and became indoctrinated with ideas of violence. When many of these immigrants were sent back to El Salvador, they brought the ideas learned in their “criminal finishing schools” with them, perpetuating violence. This notion of inequality also relates to racism by the United States by the war on drugs, declared by Nixon in 1971. Steeply criminalizing drug use and distribution created an institutionalized form of inequality in patrolling and policing. The