Words: 335
World Civilization 102 Professor McMurray City College of New York John Locke What is equality? Equality is not something that a government can grant or deny a body of citizens; for this right is unalienable. This basically included life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and was not allowed to be taken away by governments. It could be utilized to describe the same political rights that people may have, including males and females.
However, John Locke in the Second Treatise of Government outlines his theory of equality and how it works in his political society, known as the common-wealth. Despite, Locke writes later in the same paragraph that they are equal and free “unless the lord and master of them all should, by any manifest declaration of his will, set one above another, and confer on him, by an evident and clear appointment, and undoubted right to dominion and sovereignty. ” I believe that through this statement, Locke refers to monarchy.
Basically what this means is that during Locke’s lifetime, it was still widely believed that the kings and queens of the world are selected by God to rule over that particular kingdom. As naturally born people both free and equal, humans can build a common wealth. Locke’s theory of equality, which grants human freedom from being subjects of others is given to the family’s right to have material goods for survival. During his society, everyone has a claim to some sort of property.
Locke defines the common wealth as “not a democracy, or any form of government, but any independent community. ” John Locke, in the Second Treatise, outlines the structure of government that best suits the people who give up natural freedoms, such as the pursuit of justice, to accumulate and secure property. Locke’s point of view was that common wealth is equipped with the natural right to hold property. This basically meant that they cannot lose their property, even to the government, unless consent is given by the public.