AMERICAN GOVERNMENT Desert Island Your plane has crashed

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT:

Desert Island Your plane has crashed on a desert island. You have nothing with you but the clothes on your back and whatever is in the plane; you have no food, water, or shelter. The people with you are complete strangers to you; for all you know, they could be thieves or murderers.

Diary Entry #1 • Write a paragraph entry in your diary addressing… – What your main concerns are – How you will protect yourself – Will you remain on your own or interact with the group? • Example start: Dear Diary, Today my plane crash landed on a deserted island somewhere in the south Pacific Ocean. I am concerned about…

Three days later… You and your group have spent three days looking for food, but you have been unsuccessful. You’re all starving. Miraculously, while you are all near each other, one person finds one piece of fruit. Everybody wants it, but how will you all decide who gets it?

Diary Entry #2: • Write a paragraph entry in your diary addressing… – The single fruit incident – Who got the food? How did they get it? – How did survivors interact? • Example start: Dear Diary, Today we found a single piece of fruit, the first piece of food on the island…

STATE OF NATURE The state of nature is a thought experiment (it doesn’t actually exist in reality) State of nature = life without society. No government, no authority, no social contracts.

SOCIAL CONTRACT An agreement you make when you “enter” society Can be “unwritten rules” (example? ) Why would you agree to a social contract?

THOMAS HOBBES

2 Months Later… Survival on this island requires you to have the protections and benefits of a group. Anyone who decided to try surviving alone gave up within a week. These students asked to join the rest of the group. Decide: What will you do with these students? Do you let them join?

Discuss: What (if any) unspoken rules and customs have you been following on the island? (For example, how did you decide to deal with the fruit incident? Were there any unspoken norms that the group followed? )

Create a Social Contract The group decides to agree to a “social contract” (some basic ideas and rules) which you use to make into very specific laws. To do this, you will have to limit your freedom. TO DO: As a group, create a list of at least 7 -10 rules that you’ll live by. Your ultimate goal is to make sure that your rules protect your natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Everyone must read and then vote on all your rules and only in order for a rule to be made into a law, a majority of you need to consent. If you can’t get a majority, then your “social contract” does not have the “consent of the governed” and is void.

Diary Entry #3: • Write a paragraph entry in your diary addressing… – What was your group’s social contract? List the laws. – What rights do your laws protect? – How do your laws balance individual freedom with protection? • Example start: Dear Diary, Today we created a sort of government with a list of laws we all agreed to follow: 1. …