Hajar
AL-Dirani
Professor
Dania Adra
English
203-section46
Social Chains
Jean –Jack Rousseau was a brilliant
thinker during the enlightenment, and had many important documents as “The
social contract” document. Rousseau started his document with a provocative
statement “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains” (Rousseau 114).He
believed that man naturally is born free, but to have protection, he is
enforced to concede his liberty and be confined by civil state. Rousseau added
that rationality and morality are achieved only by civil freedom in society. In
nature there are no boundaries or limits imposed upon man, he has the freedom
to express his thoughts, to object, and to demonstrate. More than this,
according to the law of nature, the survival is only for the strongest who can
defend and protect himself. So due to the fact that the world is an unsafe
place, there is an urgent need to a social contract that provides protection
for all parties. But although this social contract is essential for man to live
in peace and safety, it must not turn to be as chains that revolve around man’s
neck. Therefore I agree to Rousseau’s statement that man is captivated by
social chains. Since childhood we are programmed to obey the rules and to
believe so many things. Our parents upbringing, our school education, our
religious doctrines, in addition to the impact of media are all very effective agents that confine us
to behave and think according to
their instructions. Through this
strategy we become as slaves to these systems which dominate us skillfully.
Moreover, we must accord to these boundaries otherwise we will get into
troubles. There are a lot of examples about restrictions that restrain man by
chains; some of them are minors, as the law of no smoking in closed areas, the
banishing of chewing gum, the laws of no eating and drinking in public
transportations and so on, while others are important, as the restrictions that
forbid us to object on the government’s injustice, and the restrictions that
deprive us from our rights to say “No”. Let us take into consideration what is
taking place nowadays in Beirut. This photo below is an example about this
truth, our hands are tied and our voices are suppressed. Now People are
demonstrating in front of the Parliament calling for political, social, and
economical reforms, but they are facing repression and persecution from the
authorities. Anyone who dares to object will get into troubles; his voice will
be muted, his hands will be tied with chains, and then he will be taken to the
jail. Furthermore, it seems that we are living in a man-made prison; the
government’s restrictions have strangled us completely and has deprived us from living in a real civil
society.
The suppression of freedom and restrictions
on right
moodle
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