John Locke and the Effects of the Enlightenment

Today I would like to write about the profound effect the Enlightenment has had on western civilization, in particular the ideas of John Locke. Today we here in America, and indeed citizens of many western nations enjoy what they consider inherent liberties every day. The freedom of speech, the freedom to own property, the freedom of economic responsibility and the freedom from harm as an individual. What many people do not realize, however, is that while we consider these "natural liberties," or rights that we are naturally born with, this has not always been so. In fact, over the course of history people for the most part considered there to be inherent classes among men- nobility over peasants, community over individual and educated over ignorant. This was society- until the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment, whose biggest player in my opinion was John Locke, was a time that sought to dismantle the class system and emphasize the power of the individual. Philosophs, like Locke, were for the first time espousing that every individual was inherently equal and therefore equally free to pursue education or enterprise, or own property. These radical theories galvanized Europe and the Americas, leading to the American Revolution and, not long after, the French Revolution. These enlightenment ideas based on the ability of each individual literally laid the cornerstone for the American Constitution and thus the country that we live in today. These ideas of the inherent rights of the individual over the collective, regardless of economic or social class, are what have advanced the United State throughout it's history as one of the moral leaders of the world. It is truly amazing to think that the ideas that pervade our society were once penned by men who dared to know in a time when that very act could have cost them their lives. So I say that we too, as a society, must continue to dare and assert our rights as individuals, even at the cost of sacrifice.