Extended Essays 2021

possible within the State of Nature. Following the government being a quality of the

people, it must only hold power as it serves to protect and preserve their welfare. As

such, the right to insurrection is necessary and welcomed by Locke. This is as

democracy enables the power of the people and their ability to delegate and remove

it from an ineffectual government.

Both theories discuss the concept of a social contract and the varied power of

government: absolute (Hobbes) or limited to what society affords it (Locke).

Comparably, these two theories are liable to criticism, as will be demonstrated by the

views of Hannah Arendt and Robert Filmer respectively.

Thesis and Methodology

By way of methodology, I will philosophically evaluate the contrasting theories of

Hobbes and Locke towards the right to insurrection contrasted to the obligation to not

rebel. Then, I will evaluate these theories against the actions and views of the

Boogaloo Boyz following their uprising on the 6 January 2021.

The tendency of societies to rebel against incompetent or corrupted governments,

lends itself to the importance of revolution for the Boogaloo Boys. However,

concurrently this predisposition is dangerous to the functioning of a state. This is

evident where the requirement for insurrection is poorly founded. As such a

counterargument is produced.

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