Liberty (or Lack Thereof) and (In)Justice for All

Abstract

Ever since civilization moved past the Stone Age, governments have taken form. It is an arrangement in which, in exchange for giving up complete and limitless freedom, the people ruled by the government are offered protection. Said protection takes many forms. These include, but are not limited to, military might, financial protections, and laws. Laws are the most interesting of the three aforementioned protections. They are restrictions placed on citizens that, presumably, exist to maintain peace and prosperity within a state. For example, there are laws against theft. This is because stealing entails the victim losing property and suffering material loss. If there were no laws or criminal punishment against theft, the practice would become widespread. Nobody's property would ever be secure. Everyone would have to constantly worry about their livelihoods being pulled out from beneath them and live in a constant state of paranoia. This is, of course, not sustainable. Theft being legally allowed in the state is, in the long run, against the best interests of the people within the state. Therefore, laws being passed to criminalize theft are quite justified. That seems to be the most popular and accepted consensus. However, the water can get murky with other laws and the justification of their existence. Some examples are the legalization of abortion under Roe v. Wade and its repeal in 2022, as well as the restriction of firearms (better known as "gun control"�). In addition to examining these two controversies involving laws and legislation, this paper will investigate John Locke's ideas of Natural Laws, Natural Rights, the common good, and the role of laws within society (things which inspired the Declaration of Independence that created this country). It will also compare and contrast his conception of the Social Contract as opposed to the ideas of Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jascque Rousseau. In addition, it will analyze and critique The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a work of fiction that contextualizes social contract theory in a more modern way.