the amount of power possessed by the individual people in their prior state of Nature. "For nobody can transfer to another more power than he has in himself, and nobody has an absolute arbitrary power over himself, or over any other, to destroy his own life, or take away the life or property of another.” (Locke). Therefore although the legislature may be the supreme power in every commonwealth, "it is not, nor can possibly be, absolutely arbitrary over the lives and fortunes of the people.” (Locke). Locke believes the power that is given to a legislature is limited to the public good of the society, and that power is used only to preserve what is good for the society. Therefore the power we give to our legislatures should never be used to destroy, enslave, or impoverish us it should only be used to further the interests of us all and to preserve those interests. Here Locke points out that, “the obligations of the law of Nature cease not in society……..Thus the law of Nature stands as an eternal rule to all men, legislators as well as others. The rules that they make for other men’s actions must, as well as their own and other men’s actions, be conformable to the law of Nature-i.e. to the will of God, of which that is a declaration, and the fundamental law of nature being the preservation of mankind, no human sanctions can be good or valid against it.” (Locke). This is not to say that we should govern ourselves strictly by God’s will. To the contrary, we must write laws, authorize judges, and determine individual’s rights. The law of Nature is unwritten and exists only in our minds; it is foolish to think that one's interpretation will not be disputed by another. Without written laws governing us our ability to gain peace, protect our property, and our personal safety would be as uncertain as it was in the state of Nature. The United State’s system of governmen...
