The State For Legality Of People's Actions
A state is an independent political entity that can make laws without the approval of a higher authority. It has been an argument throughout centuries whether or not we need a state to govern us and why we need to obey the state. Why exactly should we obey the state?
According to Hobbes, righteousness isn’t the only thing that will make a state successful. He thinks there is not enough righteousness to go around because humans can be pretty selfish and jealous. Hobbes believes that we need a very strong government to guide us; all power should be to the sovereign. Sovereignty is when the state has autonomy and other states are not to interfere. The most important principle: whatever is not forbidden by sovereign law is allowed. Everyone is to obey the sovereign law and all people are equal; there are no special laws for upper class or lower class families. Since all things that are not forbidden under sovereign law are allowed, we have the freedom to do as we wish with the remaining things. This type of freedom will let people do what they want to do and stop people from killing each other due to greed and jealousy. There are only two main parts on the world Hobbes envisions: the part where the people have to obey the sovereign who have total control, and the part where the people get to do as they wish without breaking sovereign law.
John Locke is another theorist who envisions the liberal state and its basic principles. Locke adjusts the theory of Hobbes and focuses on one point not mentioned by him; giving the sovereign too much power. Hobbes wants to protect the people from killing each other and Locke is worried about protecting the people from the state. Locke had a theory which influenced what we now know as the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution. Locke believed that we were born with three basic natural rights give to us by God: life, liberty, and property. Opposed to a state where we follow sovereign law and give them all the power, a state with constitutional rights protects the people’s private life and the state wont interfere. Hobbes and Locke both wanted to promote economic activity to the people. Some people will make more money than others and get to spend it as they wish. Some will fail, some will succeed at the economic activities.
Jean Jacques Rousseau came a long time after Hobbes and Locke. His theory was influenced by their theories together. Rousseau adapts Hobbes theory: human beings existed in a state of nature that was ended by the social contract. Rousseau thinks that people were happy in a state of nature. He thought the social contract was a failure because some people succeeded more than others at economic activities, which brought on unhappiness. Rousseau’s first thought was how can someone be truly happy and free if they were to obey the sovereign. Second, Hobbes and Locke’s theories will just create a state of psychological oppression and unhappiness. Third, he believes people should be smart enough to make decisions rather than just letting the sovereign rule over them without question. Rousseau believes in a democracy. He believes should directly vote and debate on decision making themselves with equal participation among everyone. Rousseau believes that if the people make the decisions, there will be no loss of freedom because they would go with what their reason said was the right thing to do. He wants people to be educated on how the state will be taking part in their lives.
We are in need of a state because without one, we are just selfish and jealous and only make decisions that will benefit us and not others. Without a state, there will be a burst of violence because some people will be successful and some will fail to govern themselves. The only way we can become powerful is if we join together in state.
