The ideas of liberty, equality, society, and government are great and debatable issues regardless of the times in which they are examined. Each of these ideas is interpreted differently by different people. Amongst the given notable figures it is clear that the ideas which are expressed in the writing of Thomas Paine and Malcolm X agree the most in comparison to that of and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as there is a general correlation in the ideas introduced and further discussed.
Both Thomas Paine and Jean-Jacques Rousseau share a common ground between them when it comes to the topics of society, government, and freedom and equality amongst man, as Rousseau was one of the greatest influences on Paine. In his “Social Contract,” Rousseau begins to explain the basis of the creation of society, in which he introduces sovereign. Sovereign is the combined grouping of all individuals in where by their permission they enter into a society. These individuals are united into a sovereign by a general will. Similarly in Paine’s “Common Sense,” this idea of a sense of collectiveness of individuals into what becomes then and only then a society is expressed.
Additionally, this definition of society agrees with that of Rousseau’s in that it agrees to unity and society as being anything constructive and positive that people join together in order to establish. It is constantly agreed by both writers that society must be the expression of the general will of united individuals. Of course the general will would be the common collective need of everyone to make available the joint benefit of everyone in society.
The idea on creating oneness between individuals of a society is also seen in the writings of Civil rights activist, Malcolm X, specifically in his speech of “The ballot or the bullet.” He states, “I’m a Muslim minister. The same as they are Christian Ministers, I’m a Muslim minister. And I don’t believe in fighting today in any one front, but on all fronts. In fact, I’m a “Black Nationalist Freedom Fighter.” Islam is my religion, but I believe my religion is my personal business.
It governs my personal life, my personal morals. And my religious philosophy is personal between me and the God in whom I believe; just as the religious philosophy of these others is between them and the God in whom they believe” (X 1). He starts off by introducing himself and his background to the audience and reassures them that even though they may well be different in religious backgrounds than him, their case is one.
As he continues on, “Were we to come out here discussing religion, we’d have too many differences from the outstart and we could never get together. So today, though Islam is my religious philosophy, my political, economic, and social philosophy is Black Nationalism. You and I — As I say, if we bring up religion we’ll have differences; we’ll have arguments; and we’ll never be able to get together.
But if we keep our religion at home, keep our religion in the closet, keep our religion between ourselves and our God, but when we come out here, we have a fight that’s common to all of us against a [sic] enemy who is common to all of us” (X 1). Here he goes on further to identify the specific enemy for the audience and that regardless of the differences between individuals in the society; they are joined by their general will.
Furthermore, the idea of establishing laws is a must to, as they also agree upon necessary paths to establishing them. Malcolm continues to create awareness to the audience about correctly achieving the necessary kind of government as he says, “And until we become politically mature we will always be mislead, lead astray, or deceived or maneuvered into supporting someone politically who doesn’t have the good of our community at heart” (X 2). In Rousseau’s opinion laws must be created in order to express the general will as they must uphold the rights of equality and personal freedom for an individual.
Paine similarly aggress with the notion of the expression of the general will, as it comes from the people, and he goes on to state that people would be happier if they were the ones who were responsible for the making of the laws that would one day rule them. Naturally, laws would have to be carried out in an orderly fashion, thus the need of government is a must as according to Rousseau.
Whatever authority is given the authority by the consent of the people, which will be the ruling authority as it is only then it enter the Social Contract. Paine states in addition to Rousseau’s statement that the purpose of government is how well it protects life, liberty, and property. According to Rousseau the government will comes in different types which vary from monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, and that each type has its ways that it is run by and setbacks, which of course don’t make it perfect. Paine agrees and goes on further to even suggest the form of government that the independent colonies should establish, Rousseau continues as he says that the specific form of government would be determined by the size and specifications of the state.
Paine agrees by his proposal of adopting a representative democracy for the independent colonies in which there would be a roughly equal weight of power to each colony. In relations to the drawback that is mentioned by Rousseau varying by the specific types of government, Paine gives and example in his writing when he explains how the monarchy has far too much power over the colonies and how it acts as if it has a reasonable system of check and balances, when in reality it doesn’t. Being the “necessary evil,” as Paine calls it, both sovereign and government will never have a stable and solid relationship as it must go against the general will.
Paine goes on to explain how Great Britain has failed miserably to uphold its duties as a government as it attacks the colonies instead of ensuring protection for them. In addition Malcolm also states how the government has failed to provide the equality for Blacks as he states, “We suffer political oppression, economic exploitation, and social degradation — all of them from the same enemy. The government has failed us; you can’t deny that. Anytime you live in the twentieth century, 1964, and you walkin’ around here singing “We Shall Overcome,” the government has failed us” (X 2).
The idea of democracy stems from all the compared writings as government is believed that it must be as democratic as possible, whether in any ideal society or even in the independent colonies. Naturally from democracy comes the idea of equality and freedom. Rousseau discusses the government’s role in attaining freedom for its entire people as an objective. An additional function would be to carry out and respect the general will of the people which would definitely mean not limiting nor dictating the general will, and in general to just be as democratic as possible. In an agreed correlation Malcolm states, “Liberty or death was what brought about the freedom of whites in this country from the English. They didn’t care about the odds.
Why they faced the wrath of the entire British Empire. And in those days they used to say that the British Empire was so vast and so powerful when the sun — the sun would never set on it. This is how big it was, yet these 13 little scrawny states, tired of taxation without representation, tired of being exploited and oppressed and degraded, told that big British Empire “liberty or death” (X 3). In agreement with Rousseau’s ideas about democracy within the government Malcolm continues as he brings up the struggles of Paine’s time in order to draw a correlation between the times, as in essence both groups of people chose to fight for liberty, equality, and democracy. In Paine’s eyes a monarchy can never be seen as a democracy for several reasons, he goes on yet further as to state how a monarchy originates from sin.
To both figures equality is a natural state in which man is born into and should remain anything otherwise would be unnatural. Inequalities that are recognized are a result of the presence of factors such as the creation of different social classes and the overall domination of one group of class of people over another and the continuing suppression of the lower class. These kinds of inequalities are not natural ones; instead they are moral inequalities as stated by Rousseau. In general agreement Malcolm states, “America is just as much a colonial power as England ever was.
America is just as much a colonial power as France ever was. In fact, America is more so a colonial power than they because she’s a hypocritical colonial power behind it… What do you call second class citizenship? Why, that’s colonization. Second class citizenship is nothing but 20th century slavery. How you gonna tell me you’re a second class citizen? They don’t have second class citizenship in any other government on this earth. They just have slaves and people who are free. Well this country is a hypocrite. They try and make you think they set you free by calling you a second class citizen. No, you’re nothing but a 20th century slave” (X 2). Similarly Malcolm identifies the unnatural inequality that the government is responsible for as it stems from the constant oppression of Blacks as they are considered to be second class citizens even in modern times.
Coming from very different backgrounds and during different times, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Paine, and Malcolm X share a common need for creating awareness and laying out the stepping stones for a collective society that would be joined based on the general will of the individuals living in it, regardless of their backgrounds, whether religious or cultural. The idea of government is indeed seen as a must for all three figures, as the also agree on the correct from of government and the bliss of having a country governed by a true democracy, not one that appears to be democratic.
During the times of a possible revolution, whether social or political both Rousseau and Malcolm propose the solution of revolting against and unjust and undemocratic government that was ruling without any liberty or inequality amongst its citizens. This is true in Malcolm’s case as he states that to the government Blacks are seen as “second class citizens” and to in Paine’s case the great power and control that Great Britain had over the colonies which would never allow them to have any sort of power in the rest of the world, yet instead be always dependent on Great Britain. Regardless of the pieces of writings or the writers themselves, they all shared the same underlying values and opinions about society, government, equality, and liberty.
