GRAFFITI AS A METAPHOR FOR THE SOCIAL CONTRACT.
For Locke the fundamental state of nature –
is a blank slate. Tabula rasa, tracing paper.
Opaque, not engraved in stone, a changing wave of data,
Always delayed for later. A blank slate defined by the presence of actual life.
An expression of every beings inalienable and natural rights.
As state of cooperation for more. Not one of mine against yours.
And not formed into laws, but scrawled onto walls.
If Locke saw the natural state as a flash in the night.
Hobbes saw the natural state as the absence of light.
A state of nature “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
Without the Leviathan, life would be a state of abuse and of war –
A life of tooth against tooth and fist against fist.
Individual rights are surrendered for protection against this.
Now compare each perspective with an expression of art -
Graffiti is the individual expression of thought at whatever the cost.
Every single “somebody was here” and quickly drawn image,
Sketches and quickly thrown up tags, it all represents a historical instant.
The prerogative of natural rights within the pursuit of happiness.
The right to be unobstructed while moving through challenges.
If individual natural rights are intrinsic to our very essence,
Then other rational rights are secondary every second.
But we hear the cries – “It’s not all up to you!”
A Hobbesian view, where walls are Waterloos.
Surrender the right of individual expression for social order.
Individuals rights become collective laws enforced by a sovereign father.
I’ve presented these two social contracts as set apart like foes,
But they’re not necessarily diametrically opposed.
See,
Young Johnny Locke grabbed his backpack filled with his special equipment.
Aerosol cans and markers, stencils and a sense of commitment.
His mind was working in width and in breadth, colors and hues and aspects of visual depth.
Going over different vignettes as he crawled under the turned up edge of the flimsy link fence.
And so Young Locked looked upon Hobbes Ye Olde Grocery Store,
He saw the ten foot tall pure white wall and was overcome with awe.
The shopkeeper Hobbes was smoking outside,
Young Locke never saw the cigarettes dim flicker of light.
Like a Leviathan Hobbes arose, stiff arthritic pains in his joints,
Sure he was old, but he still he still knew what he knew, all the salient points.
He said, “I own that wall, put that can down, I’ve got a shed round the side.
I’ve got a son round your age, and he’s painting inside.”
Young Locke would have run, but he was glued to the spot,
He and Hobbes walked to the shed and passed through the shop.
Hobbes had told the truth, inside a person was working on a large mural,
The wall piece read – MAXIMIZE GOOD FOR THE GREATEST GOOD OF ALL.
Hobbes said, “The artist is my son Bentham,”
The artist said, “Please call me Ben.”
The beautiful mural dissipated any potential tension.
So, Hobbes, Locke and Bentham all worked together to graffiti the wall.
In a state of nature that was not a one of constant war or one of simple natural law.
It was a state of nature where a representative consensus was fulfilled.
Where if graffiti is a social contract, then it is one of general will.
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