The Invisible Chain of Man - Essay Example

?The Invisible Chain of Man “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains” (Rousseau 141) is one of the famous lines of Jean Jacques Rousseau. Jean Jacques Rousseau is known as one of the most influential Genevan philosophers. His political and sociological ideas had been pivotal and influential of the French Revolution, the cultivation of Socialist theory, and in music (Dent). He argued that human beings are born free; however, when a person is born and starts to cry, and breathe, a person is then tied to an invisible chain that the society had established. In reference to his Discourse on the Origins of Inequality, he stated that freedom was hindered when man became aware of his ability of ownership. The first man who accustomed himself as an owner of a land had first brought the idea of tyranny and oppression in society. Prior to the idea, that society had succumbed to ownership; there have been less crime and hardship, and sorrow was out of sight. However, when man succeeded in the act of ownership with it began the invisible chain attached to every human being born. Furthermore, man emerged when he was first to think of himself, provide for his own needs, and was ignorant of his ability to own properties and be above with others. Nonetheless, the time came that he felt the difficulty to do things all by himself and do against the natural circumstances. The differing tides of the time, the changes of the environmental conditions, and other natural and unexpected circumstances had brought man to a point where he considered these as no longer natural. It became a significant source of hardship for him. In order to survive the hindrances, man needed to learn to be above other species. He needed to eat; therefore, he hunted down other species, which had brought him to think that he is above them. This superiority brought man to boast and take pride of himself. As a result, the solitary man had evolved into seeing his likeness to other human beings. His ability to incorporate himself with others and his ability to be part of the lives of others came to being naturally, and at first, language was not needed in order to interact. Jean Jacques Rousseau added that, in line with man’s ability to interact and be above other species, he was able to evolve into a person who has learned the usage of tools. These primitive tools brought man to build huts. In these huts were families, considered as the smallest part of a society, which begun to hold property on where their huts stood. The families, which composed of a man and a woman, lived under one roof and were able to bear children. After the establishment of the first society, man became more convenient on his way of living. However, his needs accumulated and losing these needs and not sufficiently having these needs made him unhappy. Moreover, language emerged during the time when man experienced natural catastrophes. This had caused man to be able to communicate in order to combat and surpass these instances. Furthermore, in the emergence of language, man became more civilized and eventually formed nations. Along with this, the love within families heightened in the light of ideas and preferences of the nations. Negative ideologies also came about which also brought walls between the differences of the different group of people. People were grouped in accordance to the songs they were singing and to the steps they were dancing. A wall between people was established by identifying one as different from the others. This then caused inequality, and vices became real in the realm of societies. This had brought man to believe that, by nature, he is unjust, disrespectful and that politics must emerge to be able to maintain peace and order. However, this has been wrongly inferred because man, at its natural state is gentle. Moreover, the earliest society depicted happiness among its people; however, progress eventually brought inequality. Freedom was felt by every individual; however, the inevitable chains of slavery and captivity were brought to existence when work became an integral part in a person’s life. Oppression was created due to the unequal proportion of resources, such as lands. Justice came about when the invisible chain came to reality. Labor, the invisible chain, emerged when natural inequality, in terms of the differences of one person to another regarding the state of their resources and properties. Man’s ability to establish society had brought many positive effects to the state of man today. It had helped in the creation of language, which has been used to communicate and combat natural calamities. The family, as the smallest part and the most important part of the society, was created in order for man to experience happiness and propagate. These are just some of the positive and essential aftermath of society. However, a negative effect brought by the existence of society had been detrimental until now, which is inequality. Prior to society and its aftermaths, man was given the freedom and the capacity to live under man’s own will. People were to provide for their own needs and look after themselves. There was no need that was less or insufficiently provided; everything was enough. There was an equal opportunity to hunt, eat, and to live. However, as man became sophisticated and was stripped-off by his naturalness, man became the oppressor and the oppressed. Inequality first when ownership was established. It happened when man thought that superiority is an effect of civility, as well as pride and power. The growth of society, its aftermath, and the ability to gain ownership is the highest point of the civility of man. It is one of the great turning points of history which brought man to the current state. The creation of policies is seen as an important tool to restrain man and maintain the civility of man. However, the argument of Rousseau adheres that naturally, man is gentle. Therefore, there is no need to create chains and restraints to maintain civility. This is a commendable belief of Rousseau. It is important to note that man alone made the chains of slavery or oppression towards others. Man had created these chains, while unaware that this will eventually create inequality as society grew and developed. The experiences of natural calamities had brought about language, and man was able to find comfort against these natural experiences. It allows man to move constantly from one geographical area to another. This then eventually led to the division of people, which can be inferred to as the different races. In the earlier times, these races were subjected to be different in terms of their beliefs and ideologies. These natural occurrences were believed to be one of the causes why man evolved as a civilized. Furthermore, inequality was best depicted by Rousseau in the creation of labor. Property was considered to be owned by a person when he cultivated or worked on it. However, moral inequality arose when the ownership of property differed from one person to another. An affirmation to Rousseau idea is made clear that, when man, at first was able to work equally and gain ownership with property, then every individual will no longer feel oppressed or overpowered by others. There will be no boundaries or lines that divide poor people from rich people. There will be no labels on who has the widest property and who owns nothing but his life. Inequality will be of non-existent in society that all man had cultivated. It is then safe to say that the invisible chains attached to man were due to the unequal distribution of property. This became a continuous trend in the society that all men had cultivated for survival. It is Rousseau’s idea that if only property is equally distributed within the society, then there will be no oppression. The act of giving due property in every individual will also mean that there will be no invisible chain attached to every person. That freedom can truly be called as innate for every person born. Also, societal class and the act of labeling people will be non-existent. Human beings will eventually focus on more important things such as peace, individual growth, gentleness, and the ability to help without any defeating the purpose of it. The government will eventually be for the people and not for those who are in power. There will be equal treatment in every individual which will bring order and which will bring man back to his gentle and natural state. People in power must be stripped-off of their ability to judge those who are labeled as oppressed. This is because people can only be seen and judged with all honesty by the people they are surrounded with, and not by the people who exert inequality and power over them. It can then be concluded that this inequality is from the emergence of intellects of men. Also, this is from the belief of men that those who know more are the people who are to be given due respect and authority. This brings the unequal and unfair reference of men to other men, in the modern world, to a simple conclusion. That in all lights and odds, inequality is injected by man in order to proclaim himself above other beings. Works Cited Dent, Nicholas. Rousseau, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2005. Print. Rousseau, Jean Jacques. The Basic Political Writing. Trans. Donald A. Cress. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, 1987. Print. Read More