Week II · 21 plates
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The Natural Rights Foundation

Free choice and the fruits of labor

The big idea

Locke argued that life, liberty and estate are not gifts of government. Mixing your labor with the world makes the product yours, and government exists to protect that — by consent, under law, funded by lawful tax.

By the end of this week you can
  • —State the labor theory of property in your own words.
  • —Distinguish a natural right from a granted benefit.
  • —Explain the citizen's side of the bargain: lawfulness and tax.
Opening the lecture hall…