The Importance of Property in Society.
Two different ideas are presented in John Locke's, The Second Treatise on Government and Karl Marx and Frederick Engel's, The Communist Manifesto. In The Second Treatise on Government, Locke explains that man's state of nature is a law of nature which is generally good. Men give up some of their rights to enter into a social contract with a government whose purpose is to protect their rights (property), life, and liberty. If the government does not do their job, the people have the right to overthrow it. The Communist Manifesto on the other hand tries to explain the goals of Communism. It takes us through the class struggles of the bourgeoisie and proletariats. The bourgeoisie are the middle class citizens that are at the top of the social ladder. They control property and money which gives them the power in other situations such as politics. The proletariats are the laborers that work for the bourgeoisie. The Communist goal is to promote the proletariat revolution over the bourgeoisie. Property, liberty and government are important symbols in these two books. Property is a mean of social control in the Communist Manifesto and something to be protected by government in the Second Treatise. Jack believes that Locke's views on the value of property and its relation to freedom and government are correct while Mary believes that Marx's view on the relation of liberty to property and government. John Locke and Karl Marx differ in their ideas on private property and its relation to liberty and government.
John Locke believes that the protection of property is of the utmost importance. Property is anything that is owned. The earth was given to man for him to use to his benefit. Private property is something that is owned by specific person or persons. John Locke defines private property as anything that labor has been put into. The state of nature is for everything to have common use.