Western Law is Based on Liberty

by

Professor Jon saul

​

Liberty functions as a limiting factor in human existence.

Liberty means freedom BUT within the law only.

The law, liberty, is the boundary of each individual’s liberty.

The law, liberty, is the guarantor of every person’s freedom.

 

Western law is based on liberty – both limiting the actions of the individual and allowing the greatest range of freedom for the individual. Both of these functions are fulfilled at the same time.

 

According to social compact theory, individuals ‘give up’ absolute freedom to gain liberty in society. The starting point is always the individual: the individual mind, individual will, individual needs and desires. Western society has been built on this edifice.

 

The entire 20th century was a period during which more and more individuals populated the earth. In 1900, the world’s population was approximately 1.6 billion people. In 2000, there were 6 billion. Today, there are 8 billion people on the earth. There are more people alive today than ever before. There are more people alive today than all those humans who have already lived and died, since recorded history. 

 

The most outstanding quality of humans is their brains (opposable thumbs notwithstanding). In the evolutionary process, it is this feature of human that has experienced the most changes. Scientists draw distinctions among, for example, Homo habilis, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens based on brain size as well as brain function, such as the gradual expansion of Broca’s area, the frontal lobe used for language.

 

Language is the chief means by which we think. Intuition, it is true, is a source of knowledge, but putting the ideas, concept, images into words also puts them into perspective.

 

It is the perspective of the individual that has dominated until now.

 

The point is that evolution is based on the survival of the fittest, designed to preserve the species. Once, this was a trait of the individual…the stronger, bigger, healthies, wiser? Individuals dominated the pack, according to Darwin’s notions.

 

Inherent in this notion, at least to the 19th and 20th Century thinkers, was the key role of competition in this process. After all, competition fit so neatly into capitalism and democracy. Darin, Jefferson and Smith were all in agreement on the role of the individual in evolution, politics and economics.

 

Now, today, tomorrow, with so many human brains functioning at the same time in the same place (earth) Critical Mass has been reached (or if you prefer, critical mass one day will be reached) it is no longer the outstanding individual who is most significant for species survival. In the past, persons of great abilities, such as those who were able to amass great power or those who could envision a different future or a different paradigm of understanding, were the best bet for the human species to survive and meet the challenges of daily life. 

 

Today, and for the future, rather than standouts, survival requires a much greater dollop of cooperation than competition. Instead of the individual thinking about the individual first (to survive), and therefore, regarding the world as a competitive arena, the individual will begin (and has begun) to think of the species, all the people, everyone, first. Of course, with humans, this process begins with loyalty to a particular group (i.e., identity politics) and then metamorphizes to loyalty to the whole (of the human race).

 

Cooperation must become the guiding principle, simply because of the sheer number of people who need to be housed, clothed, fed, kept healthy and, in some way, fulfilled.

 

The survival needs come first. Clean water. Clean air, Healthy food. Warmth on the cold. Today, and for all of history, the human race finds to difficult to achieve these for all the people alive today. Simply to meet these needs, more cooperation is necessary.

 

National boundaries will disappear, are already disappearing, in the minds of humans. We are all the same is the rallying cry of the great mass of people. We all want the same things. We are all alike. The difference among us are far less important than the elements we share. These are the themes that echo throughout our society, our world, today.

 

Yet, it is the very last item in the list that houses human values. Human values, heretofore dominantly focused on the value of the individual drive, will continue to shift towards collaboration, support, teamwork, people fulfilling themselves together, rather than each individual fulfilling him or herself.

 

The language we use in American is concrete evidence of this values shift. That is what “Political Correctness” is all about. People ask, “Who are the PC police?” The answer is, they are us.

All of us humans alive today who want a world that is safe and secure. The enormous number of us humans who desire food, clothing and shelter, not just for ourselves, but for everyone. The billions of us humans who want to feel satisfied with their lives, who want to participate in a world based on peace, security and happiness.

 

Thus, definitions must change. Happiness can no longer be defined as individual success. That is no longer sufficient. Individual people may be able to make themselves happy all by themselves, without any interaction, or simply by using other folks for their individual pleasure.

 

But all of the people cannot make themselves happy by themselves. Only other people can.

 

I used to tell my students that anyone could achieve the American Dream, but that everyone could not. A few years back, however, their responses to that statement changed. Instead of shaking their heads affirmatively, they looked at me quizzically. That epiphany, for me, meant that the definition of American dream was undergoing, had undergone, a dramatic change.

 

Today, we are a far cry from the Horatio Alger story of the individual pulling himself up by his bootstraps, or even Howard Roark or John Galt going it alone. These days, the American Dream must not only be available to everyone, it must be achieved by everyone. That sounds a lot like feeding, clothing, housing and providing health and a healthy environment, as well as fulfilling everyone.

 

By definition, this can only happen through cooperation, not competition. Think about it…for now…