Essay/Term paper: Locke: is this true justice?

Essay, term paper, research paper:  History Essays

Locke: Is This True Justice?


Justice is responsible for making sure the country is taken care of and that
all dangers or problems be taken care of as well. It is essential that the
citizens be treated equally, and they all get the freedom to share what they
think. Justice can never be served without equality and freedom involved, or
problems will arise.
Locke fits the idea of justice the best out of the three (Locke, Hammurabi,
Machiavelli). One of the things he said was "government exists to preserve
justice and equality". Both Hammurabi and Machiavelli said government was here
to hold power and order, but, neither of them mentioned anything about equality.
Infact, Hammurabi said that the rich are good and the poor are bad. Machiavelli
believed humans are basically bad and not to be trusted.
Governments using inequality or not granting freedom to its citizens have
been known to have problems. Countries with dictatorships or communist
governments are becoming obsolete because people are finally speaking against
their one sided beliefs. The Ceaucescu Revolution was a good example of a
dictatorship brought down by its people. The people were driven beyond the limit
and over powered their bad governmental leaders for both their own good and
their nations well being. Another instance where this was displayed was when the
Berlin Wall was torn down by the people of Germany. They tore down the barrier
that was made by their leaders that had kept them from their families for over
30 years. The laws of Hammurabi and Machiavelli would be going through these
problems if they were still being frequently used today.
Locke also said that "government which does not bring about public benefit
should be disposed", this goes right along with the defintion of justice. If the
government is lying about everything or hiding important things from its people,
it must be disposed. They are elected to help us and let us know about our
nation and if they are telling us lies, or keeping stuff from us, they are not
benefiting the public. If the public wants to know, then it shouldn't be the
government who decides if information benefits the public or not. It is their
duty to share it with us. We elect people who say they will do this and if
elected to represent our nation, keep us informed. But when they do get elected,
they turn on us and lie to us. The U.S. displayed the use of this when the
people revolted against Richard Nixon and drove him out of office for his lies.
When the government or people in it are corrupt it is crucial that we "dispose"
them.
Although our government may not be following Locke's laws or may be as
perfect as we want, we should be glad that they don't use the laws of
Machiavelli or Hammurabi. If we used their laws we would all be in trouble.
Never the less, true justice can't happen for anyone if equality and freedom
are not involved. People must be able to speak their mind and be kept well
informed on the status of what's occuring in their nation, city or whatever.