Individuals are protected by the community under a system of
COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITYWe exercise our SOCIAL CONSCIENCE
by putting the GENERAL INTERESTS of the COMMUNITY
ahead of our own individual PARTICULAR INTERESTS
We are therefore FREE!!!
to climb Mazlow’s Pyramid of Self-Actualization
The Sovereign is our Servant
because the Social Contract is between the INDIVIDUALS
who make up the Community
We are the STATE
The SOVEREIGN is bound to the GENERAL WILL of the PEOPLE
and cannot go against their wishes due to the very nature of the Social Contract
Rousseau believed in DISCUSSION, ACCOMODATION and
COMPROMISE so everyone agrees and the GENERAL WILL is really GENERAL
The Community must always protect itself against FACTIONALISM
Indirect representation leads to self-interest over general interest
A community must always be small enough so that everyone knows everyone
else
We can easily “put ourselves in their shoes”
This implies that all decisions will naturally be UNANIMOUS
But does this also necessarily imply that the WILL of the MAJORITY
must always RESPECT the RIGHTS of the MINORITY?
What if an Individual follows his own individual interest
and ignores the General Will
Do we assume he has broken the Social Contract and we arrest him?
No! That’s Hobbes!
We respect his right to choose,
but we expect him to go along with the majority decision.
After all, the General Will can never be wrong.
Any decision which takes into account our social conscience
must be correct.
But what about the recalcitrant individual?
Can someone be “Forced to be Free?”
YES!! Explain!
If Freedom = Liberty,
but Natural Liberty implies Slavery
Slavery to our animal nature
Then wouldn’t jail be a better solution than breaking the Social Contract?
Yes!! If the goal is SOCIALIZATION or REHABILITATION
We must REEDUCATE the creep to see the light
Children and Piano Lessons!
Your parents make you play and practice to make you a better adult
Remember: that though the GENERAL WILL is ALWAYS RIGHT
the LAW can be WRONG!
The power of the State is only a DELEGATION OF POWER
which is REVOCABLE under certain circumstances
The power of the State is necessarily LIMITED
Provide for the General Welfare
Equal Protection under the Law
Where did modern society go wrong then?
listening to Hobbes and institutionalizing the right to private property
POSSESSION as opposed to TITLE by labor!
and falling into the trap of factionalism
How can a community avoid this?
It must be:
- Small enough for everyone to know one another and take part in
decision-making
- Everyone must be well-informed of the issues
- The issue at hand must be fully and truthfully discussed
- Without any outside interference
- Each individual must exercise their social conscience (this is a given,
really)
The State has LEGITIMATE POWER only so long as it serves the people
and obeys the GENERAL WILL
When the State ceases to serve the interests of the citizens
the citizens not only have the RIGHT to overthrow the STATE,
But of necessity under the rule of REASON and Nature’s GOD,
they have the absolute DUTY to overthrow the State
See the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
LIBERTY--the freedom to choose--is the most fundamental human right
ROUSSEAU is an ACT UTILITARIAN:
the good of the individual must never be sacrificed for the good of the community
the individual is ALWAYS more important than the community
We cannot tolerate the innocent in prison even if that means the guilty
sometimes go free
The END RESULTS of EVERY DECISION of the community
MUST be to the BENEFIT
of EVERY INDIVIDUAL MEMBER of the community |
return to Rousseau