This post is more a “thinking out loud” post. I was thinking
about our class discussion and social contracts. When we look back into
historical developments, including Hobbes and the natural state, we can
certainly see the developments which initially frame the social contract as we
know it or imagine it. But then I thought about the future. How does the social
contract of the future look like considering all the global and technological
developments we are facing in our society today?
Our society finds itself in dramatically new conditions,
like globalization, an aging population, the transformation of the economy and
daily life by new technologies from the Internet to biotechnology. These
drivers, as one might call them, are revolutionizing the world around us. But
while these drivers change our environment in that we live, the common goal
stays arguably the same, where citizens share in the general prosperity as
workers and owners of property. The question is if the common goal of private
property is the same, might it be necessary to overthink a new, innovative
social contract?
I don’t have a perfect definition, but I would see a social
contract as social arrangements that provide basic security and access to basic
necessities for people in modern industrial societies. This also includes
health care systems, retirement plans, unemployment insurance or benefits, and
education. In my mind this has to be included of course because individuals in
this industrial society can’t rely anymore on extended family networks and
rural communities, as we used to do. Hence, social contracts are supposed to
take care of the immediate needs of citizens. However, how should that change?
Does the 21st century require additional things to be included in
the social contract? Do we need a revised and updated social contract? What
about capitalism? What about equality?
Heiti,
ReplyDeleteI should have read your post before I added mine. We seem to be thinking along similar lines. But you said it more clearly. I think you are right that new technology and new global realities have redefined the networks that once held societies together. Maybe we are in the midst of witnessing a reconstitution of a Hobbesian world. As the increasing move toward privatization leads to greater inequalities between have and have-nots, the notion of equity has been lost. But for how long will those denied equality or justice by society remain quiet?