" A clear example of how this pertains to society today is a situation involving my next door neighbor from my childhood. Michael Fay committed a crime in Singapore, which would not have been a crime in the United States, the country of which he was a citizen. Regardless of the fact that the laws were not those that he was used to abiding by, he was in their country, and therefore had to suffer the traditional punishment for his crime - caning. This incident caused quite an uproar in the United States, with debates over whether or not his punishment was justified. My initial thought was that according to Locke's theory, the Singaporean government had no right to execute their punishment over a United States citizen. .
However, in a later section, his thoughts on this same matter became somewhat confusing. Locke discusses his views on the international aspects of the civil states. Each form of government is a single state, and in relation to other states, each government is in a state of nature. In a state of nature, though, it seems as though one man committing what is seen as a crime in that state would allow for the government of that state to punish the man as they see fit. In this section, then, Locke seems to be of the opinion that men of one state may punish a man of another state at any time, but following the laws of nature. Still, Michael Fay's situation doesn't quite seem to hold true to Locke's theory because they punished him under the logic that he was to abide by their laws, and did not. This is not a state of nature, but a government imposing their laws upon a man who did not voluntarily enter their society. .
Locke's theories on property also have some relevance in society today; however I feel that certain aspects of property ownership from his perspective are not completely accurate. Once an individual adds labor to a piece of property, that property then belongs to that individual.
