Second Treatise of Goverment: Equality in Nature Versus Inequality of Wealth

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In the beginning of the Second Treatise of Government, John Locke showed his protest against Filmer's theory about the omnipotent power of government over human beings. He assured that political power must derive from the divine state of human beings. That is the State of Nature which includes the state of perfect freedom and the state of perfect equality. In other words, he argued that all men are by nature created equal; however, John Locke didn't reject the reality that inequalities of wealth are natural and inevitable. How is he able to reconcile these two ideas?

According to John Locke, men were "promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature and the use of the same faculties; they should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection." (Second Treatise of Government, p8). The basic principle teaching is that God has given the earth to humankind in common, to the posterity of men so that they will have enough to subsist and flourish. Everything in its natural state is provided to commonwealth for "the support and comfort of their being." (John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, p 18). So no one originally can have the right to posses that public property. However, history has proven that every man still has the right to own, to enrich and protect his property; how can that "private dominion" come into being?

Locke clarified the problem by pointing out his notions that mostly derived from the natural state of human beings. Each man was originally born and predestined to have his own body, hands, head and so forth which can help him to create his own labor. When he knew how to use his personal mind and labor to appropriate bountiful subjects around him, taking them "out of the hands of...

... middle of paper ...

...with the person that refused to use his labor. The appearance of money played an important role in the mankind's evolution. Money, in some ways, inspired men to work harder and harder to claim and enlarge his wealth then one's labor would incite others contribution to the nonstop progression and development of human beings. That one's wealth is estimated upon the combination of their mind and labor, diligence and creativeness, bravery and desires .... has become the formula for our success in this competitive world. Definitely, the inequalities of wealth are natural and inevitable.

Basically, these two ideas, the idea of naturally created equality and the idea of inevitable inequalities of wealth turned out to be very logical and harmonious. The inequalities of wealth are finally the result from the natural law and state in which men were first born in.

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