Locke Is the Key to Political Debate
Mar 25th, 2008 by Micah Tillman | Start the Discussion |
(Don’t you just love clever titles?)
Since I live in a politically-divided household and teach a politically-divided student body, I expend a lot of energy trying to discover the fundamental assumptions made on both sides (and how those assumptions are connected). I’ve found John Locke to be particularly helpful here.
In his Second Treatise of Civil Government, he provides (i) a definition of political power which can lead to either the Conservative or the Progressive views of government, and (ii) a description of property which can lead — surprisingly — to Communism.
This is important because Locke is usually taken as a starting point by Conservatives (not the Left). Seeing how both Conservative and Leftist assumptions could be derived from Locke can help clarify the debate between the two sides.
Here’s the short version:
Locke says political power is, essentially, the power to make and enforce laws for the protection of people and their property (Chapter 1, §3).
The question through which the divide between Conservatives and Progressives appears is, “Protection from what?”
Conservatives answer, “From other people.” Progressives answer, “From everything.”
Locke’s description of property is: In the State of Nature, a thing becomes your property if you put your work into it (Chapter 5).
Conservatives add, “But this process of acquiring property can be (and is) freely given up through contracts.” Communists add, “And thus anyone who works anything becomes an owner thereof.”
So there you have it. That’s the short version. One of these days I’ll write the long version.
