Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Post 5: Political philosophy

Thursday, October 27

Choose one of the following prompts to write on:

*Compare and contrast how Marx views the social contract and whether you can or should break it with Locke's view of the social contract. With whom do you agree more? Why?


*Explain what the social contract is in your own words. What do you think the responsibilities should be of the citizens and of the government under the social contract? Do you think our government is upholding it's responsibilities to its citizens? Offer an example to support your opinion.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Social contract is this 'contract' between the people and a government. The citizens say they will give certain rights in order to get certain things back. For example a right we give to the government is the right to attack other people and the government in return protects us from attackers.

Sam Heutmaker said...

Marx and Locke have opposite views on the social contract. Marx says that the government has to promote the interests of everyone, especially the workers. Locke says that you have to give up things for the government to protect our natural rights. Giving things up isn't in the interest of anyone. I agree with Marx's view on the social contract more. I feel we shouldn't have to give the government anything for them to protect our natural rights.

Anonymous said...

I believe the in the theory of the social contract. People need a government to help keep everything organized, peaceful, and to keep us from becoming savage like and always fighting each other. The responsibilities of the citizens is to be able to follow the laws and to do their part in society to keep it going. The government should be able to run the whole country smoothly with as little chaos as possible and to not dictate what citizens do but to let them live freely but with certain rules. Our government is doing an okay job trying to uphold its responsibilities but with such a large country it is easy to believe that it is not easy for the government to care for all citizens. An example is how we have so many people going jobless that as hard as the government might try its is hard for them to create open and stable jobs for people in need of one to support themselves. And people don't realize how hard they work to make life better for us just because there only know what they hear and live with, they don't see it up front when its happening.

Anonymous said...

The social contract is a sort of hypothetical contract between the state and the government. In our particular social contract we give certain things away, and with that we expect certain luxuries from the government itself. We pay taxes so in return we get a police force, firefighting department, and public schools. In a communist social contract the citizen would have to give almost everything away and in return the government would regulate and give every single citizen in the state an equal amount of the same thing. With an equal opportunity, so no one could be better than anyone else.

Anonymous said...

Marx views the social contract as the government doing everything and that there should be equality among the people through everything whether its pay or food or land everything should be equal. Then with Lockes view of the social contract he believed that everyone should have the right to life liberty and property and that the government can't take that away. I agree with Locke more because he gives more freedom and I believe that people should work for what they want and get it so that's why I dont agree with Marx.

Anonymous said...

Marx views the social contract as the government doing everything and that there should be equality among the people through everything whether its pay or food or land everything should be equal. Then with Lockes view of the social contract he believed that everyone should have the right to life liberty and property and that the government can't take that away. I agree with Locke more because he gives more freedom and I believe that people should work for what they want and get it so that's why I dont agree with Marx.

Anonymous said...

The social contract is essentially the government getting permission from the people to impose laws and in return the people will obey them and pay taxes, but the government will be fair and just and give the people rights which is why this works and balances power. The government protects are rights and lets live free to an extenct i.e no crimes. There may be certain things that the people do not like about what is happening with the government but there are protests to give people the ability to speak freely, hence the right to the free speech.

Anonymous said...

The social contract is the agreement between citizens and their government on how the government is to govern. I believe that in the social contract the govern should uphold and protect us, our natural rights and other rights given to us; but in return for that we must give up in order for the government to do so and accomplish other things for us, the citizens, as well. However, in return for the government protecting us, we must also abide by the laws and standards that the government has set for us; but, if in the process of the government protecting some of our rights it takes away some of our natural rights, the citizens have the responsibility to see that our natural rights are upheld, even if it means revolution. However, the retaliation against the government's action must be just and not exceed the weight of the government's action.
I believe that the United States Government has done an excellent job in upholding our natural rights, our other rights, protecting them, and protecting us.

Anonymous said...

I believe the social contract are the rules citizens must follow and the rights they must give up to live under a certain government. I think the citizens need to abide by the government's rules in order to remain safe, but I also think the government must be respectful of their citizens and not abuse their power. I think the government is pretty fair with their decisions, but on the issue of gay marriage I think they are out of control and not being fair. Keeping citizens from expressing their love through a marriage is something that should not happen and the government does not have a right and should not have control over something like this.

Anonymous said...

The social contract is when you give up certain rights like taxes and a few others, and in return, the government will set up services to protect the rest of your rights. These services include a military and police department.
Shea Sullivan
The citizen should give up the least amount of rights possible. The government should be a fiscally efficient one, that has a just court system for the people. I believe our government is ineffecient with tax dollars, however, we have a fair legal system. An example is raising the national debt ceiling. We should increase effeciency instead of spending more and more. Also, we spend 10% more each year on the government. That is bad because our economy only grows 3%each year. It is putting us in a huge debt hole that will take decades to climb out of.

Anonymous said...

Marx thinks that the social contract is only in benefit for the people, to equalize them. Locke thinks that the social contract is in the benefit of preserving our natural rights. In order to have our natural rights, Locke says we must give up something so the government can protect our natural rights. I would have to agree with Marx a little bit more because we wouldn't be giving the government anything in order for our rights, they should be already given to us and protected. I also think that the government should focus on making things equal among people like what Marx said because being equal will provide equal opportunities for everyone.

Anonymous said...

Explain what the social contract is in your own words. What do you think the responsibilities should be of the citizens and of the government under the social contract? Do you think our government is upholding it's responsibilities to its citizens? Offer an example to support your opinion.

The social contract is a sort of unspoken contract between the government and the people that live in it. It's basically saying that if the people give up certain rights, the government will repay them with protection and having their rights protected. For example, no one enjoys paying taxes, but by paying taxes, we in return get things like police, firefighters, schools and new roads. I personally believe that the US government does a great job of holding up our rights, we are never without protection here if we need it, and we have a lot of public aid that is paid for by taxes it is necessary to get.

kyle said...

Social contract is a bond between the people and the government. The people pay taxes and expect protection and other services in return. I think the government is upholding its responsibilities because it provides us with the services we need and it protects our natural rights. For example with thoreau's idea about the state of nature being perfect but who would put out fires or when something happens who will get an ambulence to keep you alive while you get brought to a hospital or if your house gets robbed who is going to protect you? The government does these things..therefore they are keeping their side of the contract.

Anonymous said...

Both Locke and Marx believed that when the government acted unjustly that the people had the right to revolt against this government and create a new one. However they classified the acts of the government in different ways. Marx's main focus was on the working class, and he believed if a capitalist government was exploiting the labor of the workers that it should be changed to a communist society. Locke's ideas were not set on just one class of people, he believed that if the government was not doing what they were supposed to be doing, that it could be replaced with a new government, which he witnessed in England.

Anonymous said...

A social contract is something that we agree to follow. We agree to certain conditions to get the government to agree to help keep us safe and well off. The government's responsibilities are to protect us from outside danger and to help us pursue happiness within are life. Are responsibilities are to completely follow the rules of the social contract that we signed, and to help the government help us as much as possible. Our government is currently holding up its end of the contract by fighting the war against terrorism. We may not agree that a war is what is needed to protect us, but they are doing what they think is the most effective way.

Anonymous said...

Marx believes that the government is only there to help everyone. He believes that you shouldn't break it, because you need to distribute the wealth and give everyone equal status. Locke believes that you need to give up certain rights to be a part of a government, but this is only for the right to life, liberty, and property. Locke does not want to distribute the wealth.

Anonymous said...

The social contract is an agreement the citizens have with the government. The responsibilities of the government should be to protect the citizens and keep order throughout the society. The responsibilities of the citizens should be to let the government do its job and to question the government's decisions should they think they're incorrect. I think our government is doing a pretty good job holding up the rights of citizens, but there are still problems that need to be solved. One example is in the Occupy movement, the police are using excessive force when it isn't necessary or warranted. Recently, a man was hit in the head with some kind of projectile the police were using, and when a group of people went to help him, a flash grenade was launched at them by another officer.

Anonymous said...

The social contract is an agreement you have with your government. This agreement generally implies a sacrifice of certain rights of the citizen in order to gain privileges from the government. The government should be responsible for protection of rights such as life, suffrage, and freedom of speech. They are also obligated to represent the people they rule on behave of the people they rule instead of using their power for personal gain. The citizens responsibilities would be to not try to halt the effort the government is making to maintain those rights I listed above. I think the government is doing ok at maintaining their end of the social contract. They are not succeeding necessarily in appropriately representing the groups who elected them. They sometimes appear to have the next election in mind instead of the people who they are supposed to be representing.

Anonymous said...

The social contract is an agreement between a government and the people it belongs to. The people give up some rights and freedoms to the government in exchange for the protection of other rights and freedoms. The responsibility of the government to its people is the protection of their natural rights, while the responsibility of the people is to obey the just and fair laws their government has put in place for them.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

The social contract is a non-binding agreement that the resident of a state goes into when living in said state. The government must keep their side of the bargain by keeping the natural rights of the citizens safe. While the citizens on the other hand must obey the rules of the government. I personally do not believe that the government ever really keeps the social contract intact, because it always seems like one way or another the government is always trying to screw us over.

Anonymous said...

Social contract is the idea that we listen to our government because we choose to live under their protection. The responsibility of the citizens is to follow the laws of the government and the government has to protect the rights of the citizens. I think that the government is upholding most of it's responsibilities to it's citizens. It allows people to live in relative safety but it is a little bit lacking in protecting it's citizens freedoms.

Anonymous said...

Marx's views that the government should only be there to help everyone in social-contract, and the the social-contract should only be broken when the government starts to favor a certain group of people, such as the rich. Locke thought that during the State of Nature, people were well-behaved and got along with each other, and had lots of rights, but they formed government because through the government they could have access to more rights. Locke thought that if the government ever broke it's part of the social-contract, that not only do the people have the right, they SHOULD revolt. I agree with Locke more, because if the government isn't doing what it was created to, why should we continue to abide by it?

Anonymous said...

The social contract is the responsibilty that the government has to its citizens. I think the government should exist in order to maximize our rights. I think our government is upholding this because they it keeps us safe. It should continue to give back to its people. For example, national security plans are implemented to keep citizens interactions with each other safe.

Anonymous said...

The social contract is an imaginary agreement between a person and their government. When a person lives in a country, they agree to that countries or societies rules. When we agree to a countries or civilizations rules we give up some of our right and freedoms.
In return the government gives us protection, and (in most cases) a good environment. For example we give up some of the money we earn to the government(taxes are a rule we agree to when we choose to live in a certain area) in return we get good school and teachers, roads, etc.

Anonymous said...

The Social Contract is basically our legal binding agreement between the people of the world and the government. We give things up in order to gain things in return, etc. The responsibilities of us as people and the government should be to come to an agreement between the both of us of what should be held within our social contract. I feel our government is doing well, yes, for example, we have a right to practice different religions and in return, we are protected from harrassers.

Anonymous said...

The social contract is an agreement between a government and its citizens on what rights the government protects and what rights the citizens have to give up to have their natural rights protected. The responsibility of the government should be to uphold there end of the social contract by protecting the citizens natural rights and the citizens job should be to obey the rules of the government unless the government decides to break the social contract. I believe that our government is doing a good job upholding there end of the social contract, America was built on freedom and all citizens have alot of freedoms like where to live, how to dress,and what to eat.

Anonymous said...
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