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Social and Moral Policies of Government

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Social and Moral Policies of Government
Philosophy 2000 – Ethics
August 13, 2011

Introduction
The movie “Thelma and Louise” is based on two friends taking a vacation for a few days to get away from every day social regulations. Thelma’s is married to her high school sweet heart and is a victim of social rules laid by her husband.
Louise is the total opposite of Thelma; she does what she wants when she wants. Louise has an on and off again boyfriend who she decides to leave for a few days until he gets his head on straight. Louise tries to live by the policies of the government but soon find if challenging.
Thomas Hobbes believed that morality should be understood as the solution to a practical problem that arises for self-interested human beings (Rachels & Rachels, 2010). We all want to live as well as possible; but in order to flourish; we need a peaceful, cooperative social order and we cannot have one without rules (Rachels & Rachels, 2010). He also believed that “without society they would dwell in a “state of nature”, living in fear and engaged in a war of all against all” (Sommers & Sommers, 2010).

Thelma is a very naïve person and believes everything someone tells her. Thelma is a housewife who aides to her husband’s every becking call. She lives in a “Social Contract Theory” and her husband is the keeper. Louise is a waitress who is trapped in a life going nowhere. Louise’s boss is getting a divorce and is letting everyone he knows use his cabin so Louise decides to go on a road trip for a few days and wants Thelma to come along. Thelma being the fragile person that she is tries to ask her husband if she can go with Louise for a few days but every time she tries to ask he starts yelling and she asks him something else. After her husband goes to work she takes a stands and decides to go with Louise.
Meanwhile during their trip they pull into a town for gas and Thelma begs Louise to go in. Thelma starts flirting with a guy at the bar, Louise being the cautious person she is tells Thelma to slow down. Thelma trying to leave the life a having a social contract with her husband behind for a few days. Now feeling like rules doesn’t matter she decides to let her hair down. Thelma gets drunk and the man that she was dancing with tries to rape her in the parking lot. Things are now turning for the worst. Louise and the man have some words and Louise shoots and kills the man. Thelma and Louise are now fleeing from the scene. For Louise the government rules are now null and void.
Thelma went from one social contract to another; Louise is now the government that has placed her as the leader. Louise decides to flee to Mexico, Thelma wants to go to the police but Louise convinces her that they will never believe their story. Meanwhile they run into a hitch hiker the Thelma wants to pick up like a stray dog forgetting that they are running from the law. Later they run into the hitch hiker again and Thelma convinces Louise to let him come along.
Louise realizes that they are in a lot of trouble and don’t have enough money to get to Mexico. Against her better judgment she decides to call her boyfriend to wire her the money. They get the money and Thelma being under a new social contract and not Darryl’s (husband) lets her hair down even more and sleeps with the hitch hiker. Being naïve and overly excited for sleeping with another man for the first time leaves the money on the night stand not realizing that this man is a thief. Louise is very upset and crying because she knows without the money they will get caught and have to face the detectives that were hired to make sure everyone follows the rules set forth. To make it up to Louise for losing the money, Thelma robed a covenant store. Now they are wanted for killing and armed robbery. Thelma jumped ship and is now on the government side making her own rules. They later lock a state trooper in the trunk of his squad car to prevent from getting caught and prior to that they blew up the tanker of a perverted truck driver. As the charges mount up the ladies still try to make it to Mexico and end up at the Grand Canyon with nowhere to go and out of options. Thelma and Louise realize that there is only one social contract that can be made now. They decided not to stop just keep going and never get caught. This meant they have joined together a social contract of suicide.

Conclusion
Jean Rousseau quoted "Man is free; and everywhere he is in chains" (Rousseau, 1762). This tells me that even if Thelma and Louise thought they were free they are still in chains. They are free of one government on earth but now have to face a higher government and will be judged for all of the good they have ever done along with the crimes they committed before their deaths.
If the world were made up of social contracts and no way to enforce social rules with no government institutions- no laws, no police and no courts. In this situation, each of us would be free to do as we pleased. Hobbes called this “state of nature.” (Rachels & Rachels, 2010)

Reference
Sommers, C.H., Sommers, F. (2010). Vice & Virtue in Everyday Life (8th Ed.): Introductory Readings in Ethics. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Belmont. CA.

Rachels, J., Rachels, S. (2010). The Elements of Moral Philosophy. (6th Edition). McGraw Hill: New York, NY.

Thelma & Louise (1991). Director: Ridley Scott, Writer: Callie Khouri, Stars:
Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis and Harvey Keitel.

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