POLI 3020
Study Question #6
"How is private property established, according to Locke?
According to Locke private property is established when someone labors on a specific piece of land and produces something of value. At that point it's produced and the land becomes that person's property. Locke argues that by laboring and producing something, a person is following
the Law of Nature and preserving himself. Producing something of value on the land earns him the right to accumulate property and to keep the land he is used to preserve himself How much property can one person accumulate?”
A person can only accumulate so much land or resources that it does not hurt another person's ability to preserve themselves. This again follows the law of nature, they can only accumulate enough property to meet their needs, nothing more or else it would be against the law of nature.
“What does the invention of money allow?" Invention of money would allow a large accumulation of wealth to not violate the law of nature because money cannot spoil in the way food can spoil. A person can produce more produce than they could ever use, but then sell the produce for money, which will not rot away. this theory also says that money should then not be wasted but be properly invested to increase the ability to make more money in the future
