The Social Contract

Carla Sunji

Ms. Dania Adra

English 203

10 October 2015

The Social Contract

            Walking in Beirut often includes witnessing impoverished children sitting on the streets. I truly hate seeing a sight as such because it leads me to believe that society is unfair. According to Rousseau, “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains” (114). I agree that everyone is in chains; look at the photo of the children They seem stuck “in chains” in this position (Rousseau 114). Look at the expressions on the girls’ faces; they look miserable although their younger brother seems content. With regards to society, they are at the end of the chain. They are in this position due to a higher power (the government) and due to poverty.  Due to the “social contract”, these children have lost their “natural liberty” and “unrestricted right to anything he wants and can get” (115). I doubt these children want to sit outside all day and beg for money. They did not choose to be on the streets. They should be having fun and playing. They deserve to have the opportunity to learn. The government should be doing something to help such young children who have nothing and who will not have a future if they remain in this situation. I believe it is also society’s duty to do something about this issue. For example, “If I were a prince or a legislator I wouldn’t waste my time saying what should be done; I would do it, or keep quiet” (Rousseau 114). Along with this idea, I believe that this “civil liberty” has limited children and kept them in this position.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote The Social Contract in the context of the French Revolution. He focuses on the ideas of society, civil order, freedom, and rights. Although Rousseau published this text in 1762, its context can apply to present-day governments. For example, Rousseau states that “in this civil state he is deprived of many advantages that he got from nature” (114). “Social order” is not based on “force” but based on “agreements” (Rousseau 114). Although laws keep humans and society in order, they also hinder and limit our freedom and rights. For example, the children in the photograph will most likely remain on the streets due to social classes. As a benefit of the social contract, man “gains civil liberty and the ownership of everything he possesses” (Rousseau 115). Society does not possess everything. In Lebanon we do not even possess our ideas. We cannot speak of certain topics due to fear. Particularly in Lebanon, we are being controlled by our “government” (which is practically nonexistent) without a “legitimate rule of administration” (Rousseau 113). The government believes they are the “master of others”; in reality, they are “more enslaved than they are” (Rousseau 114). The government is just as enslaved as the children in the photograph.

Works Cited

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. “The Social Contract.” Shifting Narratives: A Reader for Academic

Narratives. Ed. Sinno, Z., Bioghlu-Karkanawi, L., Fleszar, D., Jarkas, N., Moughabghab,

E., Nish, J. M., Rantisi, R., Ward, A. Beirut: Educart (Middle East), 2015. 113-115. Print.