New Delhi, May 17 -- Jean-Jacques Rousseau publishedThe Social Contract in 1762. He was 50 years old and already one of the most controversial thinkers in Europe. The book was banned in Paris and Geneva almost immediately after publication. Copies were burned publicly. Rousseau himself was forced to flee Switzerland. The authorities understood exactly what he was saying. And they were right to be afraid of it.

This opening line is one of the most explosive sentences in the history of political thought. It launched revolutions. It reframed the entire relationship between the individual and the state. It is still being argued over today, more than 260 years later.

The sentence has two halves that create a devastating tension.

"Man is bor...