Jean-Jacques Rousseau provided a brilliant written work which anyone can relate to and enforce. I will start first by discussing the first pic i chose. I decided to use this cause simply, i like it. It's a painting that my mother drew. The whole idea of it is to show the freeness to do anything you desire, and the absence of rules. The horses sort of symbolize that; they are not restrained by any constrictions. If you compare a human to these, this shows how nature simply is. How man was before the age of enlightenment. The laws of man weren't as advanced as they are now. There were no legitimate authoraties. The land where the strong dominated, and the weak paid tribute, so this shows the older times. Before humanity understood the importance of society and the properness of rules and regulations. According to the text by Rousseau this is "natural liberty, and an unrestricted right to anything he wants and can get". On the other hand, the second pic shows the beauty of the application of a positive social contract. This is the village of Douma, Batroun, north of Lebanon. Where it's mandatory to build these amazing orange brick houses. The French Revolution brought about earth-shaking improvements. New scientific studies were born, civil liberty, civil rights, and property. All these were new concepts back then. Which lead to this point. A unified voice of the people where they vote for a certain representative to accomplish what's good for the entire community. The idea of it was to abolish oppression. It was a turning point. Man began to be defined by the power of his mind not his brawns. This pic shows how beautiful a scene can we create if our goals converge. In contrast, the last pic exhibits what occurs when an illegitimate authority is overseeing a country. This is one of the many movements the Lebanese people undertook in the last two decades. Trying to restore the basic rights peculated by our corrupt politicians. What was written by Rousseau, "The social order isn't to be understood in terms of force; it is a sacred right on which all other rights are based. But it doesn't come from nature, so it must be based on agreements". When the agreement is shattered revolution and force must unearth in order to restore it. Our country is rank 17 now according to the corruption scale. Which leaves countries like Somalia and the Dictatorship of North Korea, and other similar ones ahead of us. When we possess civil liberty, but still feel shackled, this is the time where rebellion should take place. According to Rousseau we would forever bless the moment of the creation of the social contract, were it not for such circumstances. However, nothing is perfect. Society, administration, and the building up of a human as a sophisticated, intelligent being. By far beats a being who acts mostly on instinct, and takes pride in his strength; although, on this Earth there are plenty of mightier creatures. Unity and thoughtfulness make us stronger. We are bound by certain laws, but these laws uplift us as long as they are not abused.
Work cited:
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. “The Social Contract”Shifting Narratives. Ed. Zane S. Sinno, Lina Bioghlu-Karnakawi, Dorota Fleszar, Najla Jarkas, Emma Moughabghab, Jennifer M. Nish, Rima Rantisi, Abir Ward. Beirut: Educart, 2015. 113-115. Print.
moodle
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