Corrupt Government In V For Vendetta

Lootings. Riots. Arson. Teargas. Outcry. Chaos. Words could not even begin to describe the lawlessness experienced in Baltimore, Maryland in April of 2015. Demonstrators were outraged by the death of Freddie Gray, a twenty-five-year-old African American male, who died on April 19th from injuries sustained to his neck and spinal cord during his arrest and transport by police on April 12th. Their “chants [directed at police] included, ‘No justice, no peace, we don 't need you on our streets’” (Fenton, 2015). Unfortunately, the events in Baltimore are just ripples in the movement that is sweeping the nation to end police brutality. Citizens are losing faith in the government’s ability to maintain peace and stability, and even worse, its ability

& McTeigue, 2006). The government in the film may have been corrupt, but society was structured and crime was minimal. When that structure is eliminated and oppressed citizens are emancipated, chaos ensues. Philosopher Thomas Hobbes argues against anarchic behavior in Leviathan; he states that the state of nature is a state of “warre, as is of every man, against every man,” in which one lives in “continuall feare, and danger of violent death” (Hobbes, 1991, p. 88–89). In this condition, violence expedites individual agendas better than “peaceful behavior” (Piirimäe, 2006, p. 4). Hobbes argues that individuals are self-interested, thus unable to maintain structure without the presence of an overarching power (Hobbes, 1991). Both Hobbes and fellow philosopher, John Locke, agree that an anarchy is not desirable and that sacrifices must be made to preserve society. In order to achieve maximal justice, Locke argues for a “social contract” in which individuals give up certain rights to an authoritative power in order to retain others (Laslett, 1960). Agreeing to this social contract is a necessary adaptation that an individual must accept to ensure personal security and the survival of