Problems. 1) There never was at any time in history a 'social contract'. This seems to be nothing more than a 'enlightenment' fiction designed by Hobbes, Puffendorf, Rousseau and others as a thought experiment to explain the relationship between the "sovereign" and the people. 2) The American constitution is a prime example of the failure of such an idea. It masquerades as a social contract but is in effect a contract between the elite men of a collection of states founded to swap one form of conformity to a sovereign to another - the 'sovereign american federated state'. 3) The American constitution is out of date and its continued quoting to sort out various arguments that now exist in American society are seriously flawed. 4) The American constitution excluded most of society: women, slaves, the poor, those without land. The founding fathers never intended that their 'democracy' should ever included more than the circa 4% of the population that it set out to represent. Harping back to it, and the declaration of independence ignores 230 years of history of struggle and modification.
America need to live in the present, else it will be left behind by its own progress. On Jun 14, 1:58 pm, Robert <[email protected]> wrote: > What is government? > > I propose that it is a contract among the citizenry, or more > precisely, the agents who execute that contract. In much the same way > as a home seller and a home buyer may employ a real estate agent, a > lawyer (barrister), a construction engineer, or other selected > intermediaries, so also do we as citizens of our nations, employ a > government to facilitate our interactions with each other in a > mutually acceptable way. > > Of course the intermediary does not work for free. He demands and > receives his commission or fee. So also does government require taxes > to perform its duties. > > But here the analogy breaks. For in no case do we allow the agent to > expand its power or control beyond the needs of the contract. > > The currency of government is power. The more it has, the more it > uses that power to gain even more power. Wealthy people use their > money to gain even more money, and so it is with government and power. > > Governments are staffed by people. These people are neither wiser nor > more benevolent than the ordinary citizenry. They have their own > personal interests in mind, and sometimes, these personal interests > are in conflict with the interests of the general populace. > > The US Declaration of Independence states that: > > "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from > the consent of the governed, —... whenever any Form of Government > becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to > alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its > foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, > as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and > Happiness.....Governments long established should not be changed for > light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn > that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable > than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are > accustomed." > > End quote. > > Accordingly, an American politician, Newt Gingrich, has pointed out > that as Americans, we do not GIVE power to the government, but rather, > we lend it. And what we lend, we may recall at our discretion. > > The European tradition of monarchy holds that kings have a divine > right to rule over their subjects. The American tradition holds that > it is the citizens who have inalienable rights, and not the > government. > > The main aim of the American tradition of government is, "that > government is best which governs least." (unknown author, attribution > usually to Thomas Jefferson) > > This aim is consistent with priority number one, Liberty. When > people are given the freedoms and responsibilities of autonomous > individuals, they will make wiser decisions for themselves than could > any self-interested agent. > > Among these decisions is that of selecting a form of government which > first and foremost, protects the rights and freedoms of those who > select that government. > > Government is supposed to be our servant, not our master, our agent, > not our parent. > > Many people disagree with that, and therein lies the basis of much > political conflict. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Epistemology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/epistemology?hl=en.
