Hegemonic Bonds vs. Contractual Bonds

Society is a system of men connected by bonds. Without bonds society wouldn't exist. Humans would just co-exist in an autarkic, self-sufficient manner. This is of course nothing but a theoretical construct. In reality humans need society, hence bonds, in order to satisfy there needs.

Bonds can either be coercive (hegemonic) or peacful (contractual).

Hegemonic Bonds

Hegemonic bonds are easy to conceive. One man beats another man into submission if he does no obey. No high level of intelligence is required in order to understand hegemonic bonds. Even animals understand and follow this system. The stronger ones prevail, the weaker ones obey.

Hence, the first systems of human society were based upon these coercive bonds. Up until the ages of feudalism, those men who managed to obtain arms or were stronger in terms of their physique, the aristocrats and their corollary, ruled over the poor. They had them toil and sweat for their own benefit.

Contractual Bonds

Over the course of human history men have come to realize that there are other types of bonds. One man bakes bread and another man builds furniture. If each of them values his product less than the other man's product they will enter into an exchange. This is a contractual bond. It is not based upon compulsion and coercion, it is based upon mutual agreement. Both benefit. Moreover, both benefit more than every single one would in a system of hegemonic bonds.

As the hegemonic bonds of feudalist society were broken apart, contractual bonds prevailed in the western societies. Men have ever since enjoyed unprecedented wealth and amenities that a Croesus would have envied them for. How uneasy would an American worker feel if he had to live in a medieval lord's castle without all the plumbig and sanitation facilities he has gotten used to!

In such a system the government, the social apparatus of compulsion and coercion, does nothing but protect the individual's freedom and contractually obtained property.

Contractual bonds are the requirement for a wealthy society. They are not a given. Societies frequently change the way they govern themselves. Interventionism is again on the rise. Hegemonic bonds are substituted for contractual ones. It is up to the people to decide what ends they want to attain: Do they want to live in medieval conditions or do they want to enjoy more and cheaper products and services of improving quality?