Rules Refresher and the Social Contract
April 23, 2026
We started with a quick refresher on our class rules.
The social contract
Then we talked about the social contract: the balance between individual freedom and order through government power.
You can think of the social contract as a mix between authoritarianism and libertarianism. Where you land depends a lot on whether you think people are naturally good, or naturally evil and selfish.
We looked at how famous thinkers saw it, and how what they lived through shaped what they believed.
- Thomas Hobbes lived through the English Civil War, which was very bloody. Because of that, he believed people are naturally selfish and violent, so a strong government is needed to keep them in line.
- John Locke saw the Glorious Revolution of 1688, a mostly peaceful transfer of power in England. That led him to believe people can cooperate on their own, so their freedom should be protected.
- Karl Marx saw the Industrial Revolution and people working in horrible conditions. That's why he thought the economy needed strong regulation.
What is the U.S.'s social contract?
We discussed what we think the U.S.'s social contract is. There isn't one right answer, since it's pretty subjective, but it was cool to hear what everyone thought.
The social contract quiz
We spent the last 20 minutes or so taking the social contract quiz as a class. For every question, we debated what our answer should be, and whichever choice got the most votes became our answer.
Our result: a little on the authoritarian side, and leaning toward people being naturally evil and selfish. Hobbes would be proud.
Want to see where you land on your own? Try the quiz at socialcontract.jack01.com.
« Economic Systems and the Political Spectrum | Why Optimism Matters » | All recaps