Locke’s choice for President: Bernie Sanders

If democratic socialism is consistent with Locke’s philosophy, then anything short of outright socialism in that direction must also be consistent with it. Specifically, ‘Big Government’ is justified by Locke’s philosophy.

Not only is Big Government justified by Locke’s thought, however. For Locke, circumstances can require the presence of it. Moreover, those circumstances most certainly do exist in the U.S. at this time.

Locke famously said that the proper role of government is limited to protecting persons and property, to acting as “Night Watchman.”  If you were alone in a dicey part of town late at night and you were to see and Officer of the Law on the street corner, would you rather that person looked like a ballerina or an NFL linebacker?

The point is, since within Locke’s philosophy everyone is entitled to equal protection of one’s person and property, government must be big enough and strong enough to protect the weakest, least powerful individuals against the predations of the most powerful entities in society.

The most powerful entities in the U.S. are large corporations: Big Business. Large corporations have demonstrated time and again their utter disregard for people’s property, health, and even our lives. Protecting people from those behemoths requires a big, strong government.

It is true that the worst scenario is one in which Big Government is co-opted by Big Business. Getting rid of Big Government is not the solution to the problems for society that situation has created.

The simple fact is that in the current race for President there is one candidate who is for a government that would be big enough, strong enough, and independent enough to stand up to Big Business: Bernie Sanders.

Source Article from http://theiranproject.com/blog/2016/05/20/lockes-choice-president-bernie-sanders/

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