Slavery In Times
Slavery! When I think of government, the first type that comes to mind is
a
democratic government. I am most used to it because I live in,
theoretically, a
democratic society. So with that, my views are based on a
democratic ideal.
First, the reason I think people establish governments
is so that they can work
together as a whole to attain a better life. One
where they would not need to
worry about chaos and destruction. I would
assume that if these individuals
established a government, in order to have a
civil state, they would want no one
person, or few persons, to have complete
control over them. The people
wouldn’t voluntarily give their lives to a
rulers’ ideals. Hopefully, they
would all know that the best ideals are the
ideals of all the people brought
together, in an organized fashion, to form a
consensus. In a representative
government, this would be done by voting for a
representative that holds beliefs
close to those of the people he or she is
representing. In reading Rousseau’s
selection, I have to agree with his idea
that no single person would voluntarily
allow his or her life to be the
property of an another. That person just might
as well save themselves from
years of suffering and just commit suicide. In
terms of government, citizens
of a state would not give up all of their freedoms
at the single command of
the government’s wishes. What’s the point of
searching for a better life if
the government is taking complete control of how
you do it? It defeats the
ideals of human nature. Those that make us strive for
that better life.
People still feel the need to be an individual, even when they
are a part of
a huge government. Of course, in today’s society, we give up
some freedoms to
have a voice in the consensus, such as killing someone at pure
will. For
example, here in the United States, when the Constitution was written,
we
agreed to abide by its laws, even as they change through the course of
time.
We, as citizens of this country, agree that, as so long as we vote
the laws into
action, we will follow them. Theoretically, the people make the
laws that they
live by. This is done through their representative in
government. This concept
is great, but it does not always work. For instance
the prohibition of alcohol
in the early 1920’s. Thankfully, we allow this
process to be flexible. The
prohibition of alcohol was later repealed. When
slavery is practiced, the
masters are going against the ideal of human nature
that we are all responsible
for our own lives. In condoning slavery, the
masters are agreeing that even
their own life can be the property of another.
I am sure that they would not
enjoy being a slave. We live in this world as
the only beings that can
rationalize logically. I believe that freedom is one
of those human nature
elements. I think that being a slave would only make
you realize how important
it is to have freedom. Too bad that we, who are
free, take it for granted. And I
think that had the masters of slaves
appreciated their own freedom, they would
have understood what they were
doing. I hope.