To go back to the heart of the matter, let's consider John Locke's view on this subject... I quote profusely, but what else can I do? Locke expressed this idea so clearly and convincingly that it's no wonder he was the philosopher that our founding fathers most admired. The Supreme Nine could do no better than to defer to Locke:
"It cannot be supposed that [the hypothetical contractors] they should intend, had they a power so to do, to give any one or more an absolute arbitrary power over their persons and estates, and put a force into the magistrate's hand to execute his unlimited will arbitrarily upon them; this were to put themselves into a worse condition than the state of nature, wherein they had a liberty to defend their right against the injuries of others, and were upon equal terms of force to maintain it, whether invaded by a single man or many in combination. Whereas by supposing they have given up themselves to the absolute arbitrary power and will of a legislator, they have disarmed themselves, and armed him to make a prey of them when he pleases..." -John Locke,
Second Treatise on Civil Government
Don't know Locke? Get to know him. Now.