Writer Emile Zola said, "Individual justice upholds national justice, and individual dignity constitutes national dignity. The only thing that can make the people of a country proud and secure is the commitment and guarantee it makes to the interests of every citizen. If it cannot even do this, what dignity and honor does the nation have?"
This seems to have a similar argument to "The country is the people, and the people are the country," which means that the foundation of a country's existence and development is its people, and the people are the key to the prosperity and stability of the country. The country should provide a just rule of law environment and equal social opportunities, ensure that the basic rights of the people are not violated, and protect the personal interests of every legitimate citizen.
The so-called "country" refers to a social group with a common language, culture, race, territory, government, or history, and is a form of community formed by a certain group of people within a certain range. A country is composed of citizens, territory, sovereignty, and an effective government.
The existence of a country is by no means for the service of authoritarian rule, nor is it for the purpose of world domination. The true meaning of the existence of a country is to protect the dignity of its citizens, meet the basic needs of the people, and guarantee their basic rights and freedoms. The government is responsible for realizing this meaning on behalf of the country.
Therefore, the mission of the government should be guided by the interests of the people, creating a fair and just society, rather than providing privileges to a few. It should ensure that the personal dignity of every citizen is not violated.
The dignity of a country is not contradictory to the dignity of its citizens. On the contrary, only when the dignity of the citizens is universally protected and respected, will the people consciously fulfill their obligation to uphold the dignity of the country and actively fight against words and actions that harm the dignity of the country.
Therefore, some political scholars say that the responsibility of the government is to "make the people live a happier and more dignified life." He said, "The government has a major responsibility for the happiness of the people, and the basic responsibility of the government for the happiness of the people is to achieve good governance."
An important factor for happiness is the inviolability of personal dignity, allowing people to live with dignity. This is the responsibility of the government, and no government can evade this responsibility.
Global justice advocate Thomas Pogge said, "In a sense, every person has inherent dignity that cannot be relinquished and is equal for everyone. In another sense, we say that human dignity is fragile and requires social protection." No one is the "master" of others. To regard oneself as the "master" of others or to forcibly enslave others is to forcibly deprive others of their dignity and personality.
As a naturally inherent value, personal dignity surpasses all other values and has supreme nature. It indicates that a person is an end in themselves, not a means to achieve any other purpose. If a person is used purely as a tool or as a means of exploitation, it is essentially depriving them of their inherent value and violating their dignity.
So, how can we ensure that personal dignity is not violated?
Bertrand Russell said, "People's happiness is related to social systems and individual psychology. We need to transform society to enhance human happiness."
What kind of society should be transformed?
That is a fair and just society based on "respect for individual rights."
A well-governed society of fairness and justice should respect the equal opportunities for every citizen in the most basic rights, provide a fair channel for upward mobility for the underprivileged, and limit the requirement for equal outcomes to the most basic citizen rights. A fair and just society is to safeguard the rights of the people, not the interests of the monarch; to protect the rights of the people, not the power of the ruler.
Therefore, if dignity is not based on the primacy of rights, it cannot be true dignity in the true sense. Without the guarantee of rights, there can be no real human dignity, at most, there is only personal self-esteem that relies on one's own struggle to maintain.
So, how can we create a "fair and just" society?
That is to establish and improve a just legal system. Only under the conditions of a just rule of law can the dignity of each person be maximally protected and guaranteed. Whether it is Han Fei's contribution of "authoritarian rule of law" to Emperor Qin Shi Huang or Carl Schmitt's provision of "dictatorial rule of law" to Hitler, they all lead the state law away from fairness and justice. This "unjust" legal system is essentially a "legitimacy" tool for monarchs or dictators to deprive people of their dignity.
Adam Smith believes that justice means giving a person what they deserve.
To give the just their deserved dignity and to give the unjust their deserved punishment is the most basic justice. The key word here is "deserved." If the punishment is too severe, it deviates from the principle of justice. If innocent people are punished, then there is no justice at all.
Fairness and justice are the fundamental essence of justice. And good laws are the most powerful weapon to ensure that justice is achieved.
Laws, ultimately, are human laws. Their purpose is not to establish a perfect earthly paradise, but to provide strong protection for the rights and freedoms of every individual. True rights are those protected by the law, and true freedom is the freedom protected by the law.
Cicero said, "The happiness of the people is the supreme law." The primary purpose of the law is to safeguard people's rights and freedoms, personality and dignity, and to uphold social justice. And good laws ensure that all powers operate under rules, where everyone is equal before the law.
On the other hand, although sound laws are important, the way laws are interpreted is even more important.
Edmund Burke believed that there are only two foundations of law: "fairness" and "utility." To ensure social justice and uphold people's dignity, rigid legal provisions are far from enough. Many times, the interpretation of legal provisions is more important than the provisions themselves.
Just legal provisions should have clear targets and scope, avoiding excessive interpretation in practical operations. "The simpler the interpretation of the law, the more just the law."
If a charge encompasses a broad and vague range, it becomes a "catch-all offense." The biggest characteristic of a "catch-all offense" is that the wording of the law includes many heterogeneous and different types of behavior, which provides an opportunity for analogical interpretation, leading to the misuse of the provisions of the "catch-all offense" for behaviors that do not constitute a crime or constitute other crimes.
The formation of "catch-all offenses" is mainly due to the abuse of judicial practice, where anything and anyone can be included, making it impossible to guarantee the legitimate rights and protect the dignity of the people.
Therefore, to let people live with dignity, we must first have just and good laws, and just and good laws come from a just government.