Submitted by BernardJOrtcutt t3_z0zpb0 in philosophy
throwaway9728_ t1_iy1begv wrote
Are there situations in today's world where it's impossible for a person to consent to the social contract, if following a "a contract must be consensual in other to be legitimate" theory?
I'm thinking about a situation where someone is born in a country where something they do or something about how they are is illegal.
For example, a situation where a left-handed person is born in a country where left-handed people are considered evil and locked in sanatoriums. In order to be able to consent to a social contract, one has to have the option to be able to agree to it without be coerced. The person would have the option to either consent to the authority of their state (and be locked in a sanatorium), or to leave their state. However, in today's world all territories that allow for human subsistence are the property of states. If they left their country, they would have to live the territory of another country. Other countries might not allow them to become citizens (due to their citizenship laws), or might share laws that force left-handed people in sanatoriums. Wouldn't this situation be a situation where there are people to which no state is able to have legitimate authority?
Another example that is much more likely would be one like this. Someone wants to do something, but no countries a person can become a citizen of allow them to do it. For example, the person is in an interracial relationship and is unable to marry their partner in any country, they want to have an abortion but it's forbidden everywhere, or they smoke weed and the consumption of weed is forbidden in all countries they can become a citizen of. Since the entirety of the Earth's resources that are necessary for human survival are taken up by states, the person would be unable to consent to the social contract of any country, as they would be coerced into giving up their liberty to (marry their partner/have an abortion/smoke weed/walk), having no other option if they want to survive. Therefore, no countries would have legitimate authority over them. What is it that stops this from being true regarding today's world
DirtyOldPanties t1_iy2ykjj wrote
> Are there situations in today's world where it's impossible for a person to consent to the social contract
I have never seen anyone consent to a social contract and it's by definition impossible for anyone to do so.
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