Blog 2

Governments Galore

            Rousseau has total faith in the people, he believes that they should govern themselves and they only need a ruler until they can keep track of themselves. He most likely would approve of current day democracies because they allow the people to be active in their government. The ruler of Rousseau’s form of government must be loyal to his people and act as a father figure, guide the way for his children/ citizens then let them go once they have all of the necessary skills to fend for themselves. The citizens living within this land must be willing to give up their individual rights to a social contract which groups up all of their rights into one big community right.

            I don’t believe that any government of this sort actually exists, I mean yes there are democracies don’t get me wrong but a citizen ruled state would be a disaster. I think it is necessary for there to be one central ruler or leader in charge. It is like a company for instance, it is not going to run well if everyone is trying to collaborate and come to an agreement, there needs to be a single individual to keep everything straight and make the final call on what is going to happen. Rousseau’s idea is good in theory because yes the people do get to be a part in making laws and decisions for their state but in the end someone needs to have the final say.

         Machiavelli 's idea compared to Rousseau seems very harsh, his leader is to be actively involved with governing his people. He believes that whatever the prince decides to do it will always be right and should be honored by the people, even though that choice may not be ethical. This idea can be generated by reading Machiavelli’s the “ends justify the means” quote. The Declaration of Independence does justify the colony’s rebellion because they were not being treated fairly by their ruler. If life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is being denied to the people by the government then they are justified to overthrow their current government.

         

        I believe that independence can justify war and death, this is because the wellbeing of the people of the nation should come first. If the people are not being treated fairly then they should be able to do whatever it takes to be insured independence and freedom. I think that Jefferson was pleased by the independence that was gained from the American Revolution, although there was a lot of bloodshed I think he believed that it needed to be done. I think that he would have agreed with Machiavelli’s quote because independence did justify the means of war.