The Second Treatise Of Government By John Locke

What makes property private? How do individuals come to “own” goods and land? These are the questions that philosopher John Locke attempts to answer in chapter V of the The

Second Treatise of Government, a work that Locke anonymously published in 1690. According to Locke, every person has natural rights to life, liberty, and property. By establishing private property, a person can fulfill their natural rights to exclusively own property, to preserve their life, and take the liberty to do what they please with their property.

Locke focuses on how individuals can rightfully convert common property into private property. He establishes three restrictions on the accumulation of private property, these including: one may only collect property

This philosophy seems justifiable for the seventeenth century when there was an abundance of unowned, untouched goods and land; but it is no longer applicable in today’s complex economic system. Through the introduction of money, the spoilage account was eliminated; increased productivity took care of the “enough and as good” account; and paid labor let individuals expand property without mixing their personal labor.

Locke’s labor-property theory is weakened when money is added into the equation. He actually acknowledges the fact that money, basically, eliminates the spoilage restriction Locke previously stamped on property accumulation. Before money was introduced, Locke says “as much as anyone can make use of to any advantage of life before it spoils, so much he may by his labor fix a property in: whatever is beyond this, is more than his share, and belongs to others.”

But after money is introduced he admits, “that little piece of yellow metal, which would keep without wasting or decay, should be worth a great piece of flesh, or a whole heap of corn.” This means that people can now exchange their goods that they make from unowned,

Increased productivity therefore, debunks the restriction of leaving “enough and as good” for property owners.

Once money is introduced and productivity increases, paid labor is just around the corner.

Once property owners can produce more goods and have more to sell for profit, a business is born. But to have a fruitful business, the proprietor needs to be able to simultaneously take care of the production, marketing, and sale of their goods. For instance, Martha wants to expand her tomato business by building a tomato farm. She would not be able to successfully tend to her farm and sell her crop on her own, so instead, she will hire people to do work on the farm for her.

Martha will purchase their labor. The field workers will mix their labor with the land and the tomatoes, but doing so will not create property in these things for themselves; reason being,

Martha already has ownership of both the tomatoes and the land. But according to Locke’s mixed labor theory, should they not be earning the rights to property in the tomatoes? This concept is quickly deflated when property owners can purchase labor. Mixing one’s labor