e general will. In effect, one must become subject to a sort of oppression when becoming a part of society. He inevitably leaves himself open to be ruled by others besides himself solely. Rousseau holds that true equality can be established, as well, through a social contract. The idea of so called "natural equality" is not completely thrown out, but replaced. Rousseau writes, "It is instead of destroying natural equality, the fundamental compact, on the contrary, substitutes a moral and legitimate equality to whatever physical inequality nature may have been able to impose upon men, and that, however, unequal in force or intelligence they may be, men all become equal by convention and by right (The Social Contract, p153)." Property rights, although secured by the social contract of Rousseau, are also subject to the give and take established upon becoming part of society. He writes, "Each member of the community gives himself to it, himself and all his forces, including all the goods in his possession (The Social Contract, P151)." He does clarify the statement to say that this does not mean that the property of a private individual changes hands. It does signify, though, that the state is master of the goods, in that it gives the individual his rights to have that property as his own in the first place. The man does not truly have the right to what he claims as his own, without the power of the state and its laws to back his claim. Rousseau further discusses property rights, stating, "Every man by nature has a right to everything he needs; however, the positive act whereby he becomes proprietor of some goods excludes him from all the rest (The Social Contract, p151)." The quote basically says that a man has a right to ownership of things that he needs, as long as he does not take up excessive property so as to disallow others from attaining property sufficient for subsistence.Rousseau specifically speaks of the right of ...
