Pros And Cons Of John Simmons

The best way to avoid punishment is by not committing the error by which you will be punished. However, not often as human beings we think why do we have to obey the laws that the government executes. We only obey them because the constitution and the government say so. If as citizens we have a political and moral obligation to follow the laws then why there are still many people who do not obey them? A. John Simmons discusses the dilemma between legitimacy and justification and the implication both of these have when it comes to following the law. According to Simmons, justification can only be express by showing that the state is morally permissible or prudentially desirable. In order words, people have to decide whether or not they want
to follow the rules of the state or whether they want to be part of the state. I agree with Simmons because I believe that people should decide whether to be part of something or not, people should decide for whom they should vote. However, from my experience and by seeing the political environment of our times, I concluded that people, in general, submit to a state because they feel secure when they are part of a political community. I do not think people reason when it comes to the understanding of obligation, legitimacy, and justification. Therefore, when it comes to obeying the law people do not have a sense of morality or political obligation attach to them, on the contrary, they do it because of their self-interested or because most of the people in the community are doing the same.
I do not believe in anarchism, and I agree with Simmons’ argument because for the most part, I do not think that anarchists understand that we are all different. People have different ideologies when it comes to politics, morality, justification, and legitimacy. I understand that they support the idea that there should not be a government and people should organize a society by their own choice. However, there is not one example in human history of a community that was created by people’s own choice, which did not eventually created a government with its own set of laws and rules. If we put in practice the idea of not having a government and a society without recourse to force the law, then we go back to the state of nature, which it is not so beneficial when explaining whom should people not kill or who should be in power. For the benefits of everyone in the community, people should be under a government, which creates laws that will preserve our moral and political obligations.