Justin Stephens 9/8/2012 Unit One Assessment Final Draft

According to classical republicanism, the purpose of government is to guarantee liberty, equal justice, private property, and voluntary exchange. According to the natural rights philosophy, the purpose of government is to protect the rights given to every human upon birth. The purpose of our government today should be to protect our liberty, equal justice, private property, voluntary exchange, and our natural rights too.

Classical republicans believed that the government should promote the common good and welfare of an entire society. Some characteristics of classical republicanism are civic virtue, moral education, and small uniform communities. Classical republicans would have our government teach moral education in our schools today, which is basically forcing children to learn about a religion or several of them. Classical republicanism discouraged large-scale cities such as New York or Chicago; instead we would have smaller communities that took provided for the well-being of the entire society instead of one's self. Classical republicans put a great deal of importance on civic virtue; they wanted people to sacrifice for the greater good of the community. According to classical republicanism, our government shouldn't be getting involved in foreign affairs, such as the Vietnam War in 1955. The Vietnam War was a waste of resources, money, and human lives.

According to the natural rights philosophy, the government should be all about protecting the rights given to every human at birth. These include; the rights to life, liberty, and property. One of John

Locke's quotes was hath by nature a power.... to preserve his property - that is, his life, liberty, and estate - against the injuries and attempts of other men. John Locke is the father of the Natural Rights Philosophy, he thought that government should be there to serve the people, and by serve the people he meant to protect their natural rights, not to violate them. Hobbes thought that without government wed be in a state of nature, and Locke added that through state of nature wed develop a social contract and a civil society finally achieving a government. The natural rights philosophy also stressed that governments preserve our natural rights by guaranteeing specific rights, such as civil rights and political rights, so that the citizens had the right to privacy and to run for office or vote. John Locke also went on to say, "Whenever the power that is put in any hands for the government of the people, and the protection of our properties, is applied to other ends, and made use of to impoverish, harass or subdue them to the arbitrary and irregular commands of those that have it; there it presently becomes tyranny, whether those that thus use it are one or many"

I think that the major purpose of our government should be to protect our natural rights, and to stress civic virtue. I think that civic virtue is far too overlooked in today's government. Too many elected officials are usually in it for the money, or power. It should be the other way around; the elected officials should have to sacrifice money and power to better help their government, or even their country for that matter. For example, Cincinnatus gave up his life as a humble farmer to help bring the roman government under control, then immediately relinquished his power upon fixing the government. I think that the laws in our government are doing the opposite. Instead of protecting our rights our government is slowly limiting it. I think that our government should also emphasize the common good. Far too often the people of our government become greedy, and focus on amassing money, power, and resources, while there are people starving and dying. People should be more focused on helping society overall instead of their own greed.

Outline

Human Equality Every person is born equal and entitled to the same natural rights Social mobility (Ability to move up in social class) Natural Rights Philosophy Individual rights (natural rights) Limiting government (higher law)

Locke Defined natural rights. Father of Natural rights philosophy State of nature forms a government through social contract and civil society. Classical Republicanism Believed in teaching moral education Government shouldnt be involved in foreign affairs Kept communities small Limited Government Higher law Emphasizes individual rights Practical remedies for resolving issues