“All mankind… being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions.” John Locke was an English philosopher who had many ideas about government. He had three main ideas about what would happen without government, the purpose of government, and what purposes the government might have that Locke didn’t mention.
What did Locke think would happen without government?
John Locke believed the United States required a government. However, there were also many things he thought would happen without government. To understand these, you have to understand what happens in a state of nature. It would be like a world without protection. It would also be a world where no-one’s natural rights would be safe. These rights are life, liberty, and property. Many people would fight to protect these rights. If you were wondering whether there is a current place state of nature exists, there is none. A current movie that has somewhat shows a state of nature would be the movie “The Purge.” It shows a place where there is no laws, government, or emergency services such as the police, EMTs and et cetera. “The Purge” takes place in 2022, where “The New Founding Fathers” have developed The Purge and have all criminal activity legal for a twelve hour period from 7 pm to 7 am. Weapons are allowed up to a “Class 4,” meaning WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) are not allowed. The movies show that it isn’t safe at all because there is no protection.
What did Locke believe to be the purpose of government?
The purpose of government that Locke believe is to protect the people natural rights. Natural rights are life, liberty, property, and you get these rights by just being a human being. The government can’t take away your rights until you have broken a law. The government would enforce a law on people that try to break it. If there was no more government than it would break out into chaos and madness
I do, however, think that there may have been some purposes for the government that was not mentioned. For example, I thought that the government c8 was to keep the nation from going into a state of nature. Without them doing this, the nation would result in chaos. I also found that “consent” meant that there would be no legitimate government and be giving nobody the right to govern one person over another. If Locke wasn’t going to conform to the law or to the rules then they could do whatever they wish to do without commandment. If they did whatever they wanted, then a lot of bad things would occur and people would be hurt and some would even be killed. Along what we found is the natural rights. Locke believed that natural rights meant life, liberty, and property. In F.E.E.(Foundation for Economic Education) it states, “ He insisted that when a government violates individual rights, people may legitimately rebel.” We found a court case on government limiting
