Custom «Might Makes Right» Essay Paper Sample

Might makes right is used more often by people. Might means super strength, energy, or power. Right means true or correct as a fact. Might makes right means having the power to do something gives one the right to do it. Therefore, all people who do things have the ability or the power to do them.

Plato has described Thrasymachus in his book “The Republic”. Thrasymachus disagree with Socrates’ position that justice is a valued commodity. Thrasymachus claims that justice, if on a large scale, is stronger, freer, and more masterly than justice. Among the three claims of Thrasymachus, one stresses that justice is nothing but the advantage of the stronger. Thrasymachus was an advocate of natural right who claimed that it is by nature that the strong always rule over the weak. That nature makes the rules on who to be ruled and by whom. In other words, he meant that nature decides who is to be strong and who is to be weak.

According to Thrasymachus, the strong have the power to rule the weak. The strong have the might and, therefore, are able to rule the weak. Therefore, the strong have the might to make it right. The weak have no power and, therefore, are unable to rule the stronger. This is happening in the world today. Dynasties rule most countries because they have accumulated a lot of richness and are, therefore, more influential. The power of the dynastic rulers is based on the accumulated wealth which earns them enough respect to the general public. They use wealth as the source of power. The poor people are weak because they have no wealth to win votes. They are ruled by the strong since they are not able to make influences to the general public. The strong make decisions to most countries' economies. The weak/poor people have no say even to their own governments (Volk & American Historical Association, 1988).

A person cannot act if he or she is weak. Action goes with power. Power or strength can be in many forms. It can be the ability to pay bills because one has money. It can be a political position which someone is able to use it to make progresses. For example, a trained person in teaching is comfortable to apply for such a position in a secondary school. A farmer cannot apply for a teaching position in such a school. This is because the farmer is lacking the trainings of a teacher. Therefore, the farmer has no power or ability to apply for that position. The teacher has the power to apply for that job.

Another example is on a situation where two companies are seeking licenses from the government. When two companies are seeking licenses to mine oil on the shores of Nigeria, the first one has skilled expertise, greater machinery and a lot of finance to make the company run during mining. The second company has few skilled labors and some machinery which are weak if compared to the first. It is obvious that the Nigerian government should allow the first company to extract the oil. Therefore, the first company has more power to get the license than the second company.

Based on the above examples, the power to do something is the fundamental driving force in doing the act. Thrasymachus explains might makes it right using justice is nothing but the advantage of the stronger. This is because the strong have the power even to bend the laws to favor themselves. The weak people lack power; therefore, they cannot bend laws. The weak, according to Thrasymachus, are guilty of offences in the presence of the strong, even if they are innocent.