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The Pros And Cons Of A Social Contract

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“What man loses by the social contract is his natural liberty and an unlimited right to everything he tries to get and succeeds in getting; what he gains is civil liberty and the proprietorship of all he possess” (Jean-Jacques Rousseau). A social contract is a deal made by an individual to give up specific rights to gain government protection. Just like a contract, a social contract can be an agreement over several different things. The social contract in the United States is and has been the same for every citizen; when going to a different country this contract may be different. Contracts in other countries may consist of giving up all individual rights, even natural rights, for government protection. A social contract is used in every government as it is an agreement from an individual to have a government to live by. In the quote above Jean-Jacques Rousseau talks specifically of an American social contract; a social contract from a different country may not have the agreements such as, proprietorship of all possessions a citizen might own. A social contract and natural rights go hand in hand when discussing government, but as I mentioned earlier, a social contract doesn’t always guarantee natural rights to its citizens. In the United States, natural rights are a major discussion that is often brought up, this is due to our constitution, which gives us these natural rights legally.

With the recent presidential election of Donald J. Trump, natural rights have

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