So, as I came across a topic about "if you don't have to worry about paying bills, you have time to think", I kind of made a realization linking the protestant work ethic and the christian worldview to this hobbesian hypothesis.
The colonial bias the hobbesian hypothesis is based upon is based upon the same assumption about human nature that the fundamentalist christian worldview is. That humans are evil. That they cannot be trusted left to their own devices. In the sphere of states, this takes the form of a dictatorial sovereign that is needed to control their passions, and in economics, it takes the form of the protestant work ethic and that people can't be left alone to just do what they want or they might fall into sin. They need to work to be industrious and blah blah blah. Our modern society really is guided by these colonial biases and sentiments that assumes we're all evil and need to be controlled, even though the social science seems to show that to not be true. Not saying government can't be a good thing, or that the economy cant be a good thing, but being more libertarian, I really despise these institutions overstepping bounds and trying to control me "for my own good". Rather, I support institutions that let people flourish as they are, and gives them the tools to live as they want without being coerced. I do believe we can do better than the state of nature, but the state's role needs to be one of merely moderating disputes and stopping actual harm to people, and in economics, I do believe that compensating people for the property rights system as it exists is a good thing. People shouldnt be forced to live a certain way. They shouldnt be forced to be "industrious" or whatever. As long as they stay out of each others' way they should be free to largely enjoy life.
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