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Essay / Locke, Rousseau and King - 929
Throughout man's existence, debates about property and inequality have always existed. Man has been striving to achieve the perfect state of society for as long as man has existed. John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Martin Luther King are three excellent examples of men who broke the foundation of the relationship between property and inequality. Each historical figure has their own vision of the situation. Some views are similar while others vary widely. These philosophers and seekers of peace and equality make many interesting arguments about how equality and property can impact man and society. Equality and property go hand in hand in creating an equal society. Each author's opinion has its own factors that create a mindset to support that opinion. In this article, we will discuss the writings of John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Martin Luther King Jr. and the factors that influenced their views on inequality and property. John Locke was a 17th-century philosopher who believed that government should be based on people rather than the power of a single person. Equality and property were two factors that Locke considered the key to a great society. Locke begins his writings with a discussion of individual property and how each man's body is his own property. This leads Locke to assert that man can only obtain property by using his own labor. an example given by Locke is picking an apple. The apple is the property of the one who used his labor to pick it. He goes on to say: “A person can only acquire in this way as many things as he can reasonably use to his advantage.” With the discussion of property, Locke leads into the discussion of commerce and monetary value by stating that it is natural for man to find himself middle of paper...... in the writings of Luther King, how he relates to John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau making his writing very complete for the audience. In conclusion, all the authors are phenomenal writers who put the correlation between property and inequality into perspective. Each author has their own opinion, but no author is necessarily wrong. They do an excellent job of describing the foundations of a great society and the laws that require men to do what they have done in the past and in everyday life, including natural law and moral law. Ultimately, everyone will have their opinion as to whose point of view is correct or which they agree with the most. All three authors should be commended for their works as they influenced many events in history. All we can do is read and consider the sacrifices these authors have made to help the world as we know it..