Role Of Greed In John Locke

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In this excerpt from the Second Treatise of Government, John Locke, argues that God gave men the Earth to enjoy, but man’s inherent greed is destroying the Earth. According to John Locke. men can inherit the property of the Earth through individual labor: “It will perhaps be objected to this, that if gathering acorns, or other fruits of the earth, &c. makes a right to them, then any one may ingross as much as he will.” Through this ideology man has the power to acquire as much property as he so wishes. This results in men procuring more property than what is necessary for survival or enjoyment. The acquisition of excess property is directly related to the fact that mankind is inherently greedy. Locke recognizing mankind’s greed argues that

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