Ghana’s cursed goldfields are a microcosm of a global crisis

Ghana’s cursed goldfields are a microcosm of a global crisis

In 1651, Thomas Hobbes envisioned the state as a Leviathan—an all-powerful sovereign capable of rescuing humanity from the anarchic “war of all against all” by imposing order through a social contract. Centuries later, Ghana’s goldfields, a modern-day “Havilah” of biblical riches, have become a grotesque parody of this theory. Here, the Leviathan—the state—is not a savior but a captive, complicit in the chaos it was meant to quell. Illegal gold …