What is the "Social Contract" of the U.S.?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract

Also what SHOULD the Social Contract be? And why?

P.S. I'm not just killing time here. I *really* do wonder and I **really** do have a practical use for some ideas here.

The social contract today says "Thou shalt service the corporation, and if thou falleth ill, thou shalt crawl of and die with as little fuss as possible.

Corporations are the only "persons" that still matter.

are we existing in a state of anarchy and just haven't noticed it yet?

The constitution has no authority. http://tmh.floonet.net/articles/notreas.html

It is a general principle of law and reason, that a written instrument binds no one until he has signed it. This principle is so inflexible a one, that even though a man is unable to write his name, he must still "make his mark," before he is bound by a written contract.

The social contract is not a literal contract, it's a covenant between people and their government. If you vote, you've signed the contract. If you call the cops when your house is burglarized, if you call the fire department when your home catches on fire, if you sue someone in court, if you look for USDA certifications on the meat you buy, if you ride the bus to work, if you send your kids to school, you've signed that contract.

You live a soft life on a very crowded planet. You might deny it, but you've signed that contract and you can't even begin to count all the ways it protects you.

context, so that introduces the question of the relationship between the U.S. social contract and our social contract with the World. Thanks for the observations; I hadn't been thinking of that.

what you posted, which may not encompass your entire political belief system, if I do not avail myself of government services then I am not under the contract?

And what is the point of government? I may have used certain aspects of it back in my pre-18 life, does this make me beholden to it for the rest of my days?

Can there be any realistic point in the future when Man can say we can cut back on the amount of government we have? Or must it continue to grow?

Is there anyplace in the US I can go and be free of the government? The Conch Republic is looking nice...
http://www.conchrepublic.com/

And as an aside did the unsigned/signed "social" contract protect those at Walter Reed? Did the actual contract they signed protect them?

I often think about that as well. In right wing eyes I suppose its "We keep you safe with a huge military and you keep us and our corporate/religious cronies riding high". It's unrealistic and fertile for corruption. After all, so far the haves/have nots gap has widened, we are despised globally, and we are in more danger from our government than an exagerated threat abroad.

Taking care of a population is way more than just a military. It should involve universal healthcare, garanteed livable pension until death, and cultivating a society which tries to be as inclusive as possible with regard to a robust middle class.

To honestly answer your question, we lack a social contract in any real sense.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

hows ya mom an dem?

actually i'm in seoul now. I got the hell out of dodge. How'd you make out for the storm?coo

nice cartoon by the way

:D

Seoul... I'd like to be overseas 'bout now. I stuck it out here in NOLA, which ain't easy. All of our problems before the storm are magnified 10 times, and now we have even more problems. None of the goddamn water pumps that were sold to us last year work! It turns out they were sold by a former business parter of Jeb Bush (Jeb was in the water pump business in the early 1990s). :eyes:

More of my toons here:
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/swamprat/index.htm

i heard about that. I've been gone since Jan 1.

i know blanco is not the greatest but we'll be up shit creek without a paddle if she gets replaces with a republican.(which i'm scared will happen)

I'll bet you're used to hearing that.

You make me laugh and that's a hard thing to do these days!!

Thanks!

:hi:

is the oldest racket in history.

I guess I'm asking, "Would there be any Social Contract at all if it did NOT include Everyone".

If it must include everyone, then that's a different sort of contract, it includes different sorts of things, than one or more contracts that include some but not others. Being for Everyone would force it to limit itself to real needs, don't you think?

I have to go run some errands, but I'll return to this thread later.

Thanks in advance for what you think about this.

later . . .