Locke's Second Treatise on Government is the one they assign in all the Freshman Humanities courses. The First Treatise nobody reads: it's an argument against the Divine Right of Kings, which no one believes in any more. They only blindly accept the Divine Rights of Capitalists to do whatever they want in a consequence-free environment.
I don't know which "they" you're referring to here, or exactly what you mean by Capitalists. The term "capitalist" can mean someone who advocates the private property system (which I don't think is what you mean here) or someone who invests in capital. Property and investment are both about bearing the consequences of one's choices. There's what's called "crony capitalism," which consists of investors getting special favors and protection from politicians, but that's special deal-making, not something anyone advocates consistently as a right (though Huckabee has come close). The parts where Locke says that the sole purpose of gummint is to preserve property rights
Yah, see last month's Bookpost for "A Letter Concerning Toleration." I was not kind, for the exact reason you give.
And trust me, he really did say that the purpose of government was to protect property rights. i just read it. Better yet, re-read the treatise for yourself, or the Wiki article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Treatises_of_Government
And as far as I'm concerned, "crony capitalism" is what the political sock-puppets of crony capitalists mean when they talk about Capitalism, and it IS what Capitalism means in America in this day and age. If you want to assert that REAL capitalism, as opposed to all versions of capitalism which have yet been tried, would be just great and would not eventually lead to a handful of godzillionairs claiming ownership of All The Things, I'm not interested. Go find someone who believes that REAL communism, as opposed to all forms of communism which have yet been tried, would be just great and not eventually lead to dictatorship by a slave-driving megalomaniac.
This passage from Locke (on Gutenberg) contradicts your view that he said the sole and exclusive purpose of government was to protect property rights (unless taken in the broader sense which I mentioned, including life and liberty as a person's property):
The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.
But there's no answer to "I'm not interested," so I'll leave it at that.
"What is compassion, anyway?" "I never realized what it was before half so well as I have this time, sir. It seems to be something a bit like fear. If a man lets it get hold of him, he loses his manhood."
That's the philosophy of today's Republican Party in a nutshell.
the nice Norman Rockwell-seeming American small town that is gradually revealed to be full of skeletons; the barnacle-encrusted underbelly of the Good Ship Lollipop
Which is also the underlying plot of Speaker for the Dead, which in turn provides an interesting take on that work.
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I don't know which "they" you're referring to here, or exactly what you mean by Capitalists. The term "capitalist" can mean someone who advocates the private property system (which I don't think is what you mean here) or someone who invests in capital. Property and investment are both about bearing the consequences of one's choices. There's what's called "crony capitalism," which consists of investors getting special favors and protection from politicians, but that's special deal-making, not something anyone advocates consistently as a right (though Huckabee has come close).
The parts where Locke says that the sole purpose of gummint is to preserve property rights
I don't know if Locke said that or, if ( ... )
Reply
Yah, see last month's Bookpost for "A Letter Concerning Toleration." I was not kind, for the exact reason you give.
And trust me, he really did say that the purpose of government was to protect property rights. i just read it. Better yet, re-read the treatise for yourself, or the Wiki article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Treatises_of_Government
And as far as I'm concerned, "crony capitalism" is what the political sock-puppets of crony capitalists mean when they talk about Capitalism, and it IS what Capitalism means in America in this day and age. If you want to assert that REAL capitalism, as opposed to all versions of capitalism which have yet been tried, would be just great and would not eventually lead to a handful of godzillionairs claiming ownership of All The Things, I'm not interested. Go find someone who believes that REAL communism, as opposed to all forms of communism which have yet been tried, would be just great and not eventually lead to dictatorship by a slave-driving megalomaniac.
Reply
The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.
But there's no answer to "I'm not interested," so I'll leave it at that.
Reply
"I never realized what it was before half so well as I have this time, sir. It seems to be something a bit like fear. If a man lets it get hold of him, he loses his manhood."
That's the philosophy of today's Republican Party in a nutshell.
the nice Norman Rockwell-seeming American small town that is gradually revealed to be full of skeletons; the barnacle-encrusted underbelly of the Good Ship Lollipop
Which is also the underlying plot of Speaker for the Dead, which in turn provides an interesting take on that work.
Reply
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