2 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

and the rest by the task of getting their living; for the general
insecurity would prevent the development of any improved
methods of producing wealth. Community life, therefore, means
giving up certain liberties, which are liberties in name only,
in order to get more liberty in fact. The lyth century writer,
Hobbes, was so impressed by this aspect of politics that he made
it the centre of his argument. The life of man outside society,
he said, is "poor, solitary, nasty, brutish and short"—so men
should always obey the Government, since any Government,
however harsh, is better than none.

But while Government can thus make liberty possible, it can
also, in the hands of unscrupulous people, destroy it. Such
people may use their power, not for the good of all, but to make
the majority subject to their convenience; when this happens,
men feel justified in overturning their Government and setting
another in its place. The alternative to the Government men have
is not, necessarily, no Government; they can change the kind
of Government. So Government has not only the negative task
of preventing disorder, but the positive task of creating-the
conditions of a good life; this is what the people expect from it
in return for the powers they have given to it. Hence the i8th
century writer, Rousseau, speaks of a "Social Contract"—an
agreement, not formally made, but understood, between rulers
and ruled—the latter to obey, the former to do justice. When
human beings group themselves into debating societies, cricket
clubs and other voluntary associations, this Social Contract is
plainly written down; powers are given to the officers, and work
is expected from them. But many political groupings, or States,
were formed before men knew how to write, or to think as clearly
as some people can to-day/; rarely, therefore, has such a Social
Contract been made in plain terms* It is, however, a useful idea
for the criticism of forms of Government. A State may come
into existence because a small number of men climb into a
position from which they can control a large number; but when
this majority start to ask "Why should we obey?", it becomes