A man who picks plant and apple tree in the ground owns that apple tree because he put the labor into it by planting the tree. By putting in labor, the man takes the apple tree out of the state of nature and common use and makes it property. Property is very important because property can be anything, specifically life itself. Ones" self is his most important property and everything will be done to protect this property. Property is also valuable because some things are scarce. One must only take what he can use. "As much as any one can make use of to any advantage of life before it spoils, so much he may by his labor fix a property in." (Locke: 31) For if he takes more than his share he takes away from others. Water is invaluable to a man dying of thirst just as grass is to his cows.
In order for the protection of their property, man must give up some of their freedom. Freedom is when people are not subject to the arbitrary will of others. In the state of nature, man's natural law and instincts govern his behavior. He has the freedom to do as he pleases unless it threatens someone else's state of nature thus putting him in a state of war. If someone does wrong to you, you have the right or freedom to punish him or her. These punishments are for reparations and restraint. However a key flaw in the state of nature is that even though people are generally good, they are also biased. A thief may steal your food, but in the heat of your rage, thoughts are cluttered so you believe that his punishment be death. "And thus in the state of nature one man comes by a power over another; but yet no absolute or arbitrary power to use a criminal, when he has got him in his hands, according to the passionate heats or boundless extravagance of his own will." (Locke: 8) This is an unjust punishment. There must be a mediator to determine a just punishment so that these kinds of actions do not continue. This is where government comes in.
