SOCIAL CONTRACT I27/06/21
Let's say a social contract is an agreement between the ruled and the ruler. Derived from the idea of Providence; God is all knowing and not a dictator, the people agree among themselves to hand over their freedom to God. In return, God handed back peoples' freedom in order to contribute to the common good.
This suggests that good is conditioned by freedom. Thus the peoples' act to handover their freedom is not only voluntary, but also good and natural. It's the basis for moral law.
So it follows that the people among themselves handed over their freedom to the government in a contract that the government will make laws towards the common good. These laws are now sanctioned by natural and moral law.
Considering that God is all knowing, the people handed over their freedom. Now, God is perceived as the sum total of all the people's knowledge. So the government is like an agent for the people to rule in their interest. The rule is inherent of the people's freedom, their values and beliefs. This is Democracy. And Democracy guarantees the individual's natural right to participate in activities of his/her society.
These activities include economic participation; access to wealth and resources; to own properties; trade and exchange; to have a home; education; basic needs of survival; to have fair representation in court and as in human rights.
Democracy also protects the individual from discrimination on the basis of culture; gender including non-binary; ethnicity or race and ability or disability. Discrimination is any action or intention to harm or hurt and disadvantage the individual on the above bases.
It is clear that the natural relationship between the government and the people is based on conditions of the social contract. Mutual respects establish fair distribution of wealth and stable organisation of society.
Instead, for over a hundred years, this social contract has become a tool to made laws in the benefit of some people more than others. As a result, those who disadvantaged are punished for reasons beyond their control. And there, the social contract is decimated.
Some government policies are based not on moral and natural law but on ideological beliefs. Their ideologies promote one race over another and are enforced by regulations. Ideologically influenced policies, especially of Act and National clearly disadvantage the poor and non-Europeans.
They make laws in favour of the rich at the expense of workers. As a result, some people are thrust against others and groups are separated according to differences such as status, religion and race or ethnicity.
And the social contract is clearly violated and the people are let down. So some people react by protest and committing civil disobedience to show their discontent directed towards the government.
Other political interest groups have risen above and beyond governments to desecrate cultural values and religious institutions that unite the people. The profanity treatment of symbolic values is considered a greater breach of contract. The government is symbolic of the ruler, but considering the people gave their ruler their freedom, the ruler therefore is the people and the people is represented by shared values, the binds of society. But when these unelected political groups defiled shared values of society, they have in fact disintegrated society.
However, while some democratic governments usually on the left are caught in political struggles, they usually are loyal to the social contract. We have experienced this during covid-19 pandemic where the people were better off under a Labour government. While the business sector was also receiving millions in handouts, it didn't stop them from asking for more.
Exploitation and discrimination continue to exasperate living condition when housing is regulated unaffordable and folks live in cars on the street. This is further deteriorated by evils of Colonisation. The social consequences highlight modern trends of material developments in addiction, mental illness and suicide.
Since shared values of the oppressed are decimated, the natural and moral bindings of society are severed and society is disintegrated.
Something has to give for survival and moving forward, a democratic society needs to be restructured. Based on the founding documents, the Treaty places Maori the first people and Pakeha the immigrants before others. The restoration of society to the rule of natural law and moral order of the social contract. And the principle validates the government by the people and their legislative authority a natural order.
This time, packages of the past including Colonialism and vulgar capitalism are filtered out of the basic foundation. And there is hope that the new society is based on the social organisation of the means of survival to reflect the dignity of the people.
In the dawn of a new age, the people wake up to share in daily activities of survival. Their labour contributes to the common good as they guard pathways for future generations. This may suggest security to filter entry ports from those with political aspiration to infiltrate shared values and democratic institutions of society.
It is not expected to be an unfettered membership but genuine aspirations to respect and be part of society. That's celebrating local values, its institutions and traditions.