John Locke Would Be Furious...

Every day of my project in Malawi, I found myself pondering inherent human rights and the duties, if any, human beings have to each other here on earth. John Locke believed that human beings are all given inherent rights by God (the right to life, liberty, and property). He also believed that human nature is characterized by reason and tolerance, and we deserve these inherent rights no matter what the circumstance. As a result, the state’s main duty is merely to protect these inherent rights, given to us by a Higher law. Viewing the public problems in Malawi through the lens of John Locke is quite disturbing. The Malawian people are characterized by reason and tolerance (just as everyone born in a developed country where these inherent rights are a given) so they deserve the three inherent human rights. However, thousands of people in Malawi are deprived of all three of these inherent human rights, and unfortunately the government does not have the capacity or the resources to do anything about it.

Malawians are stripped of their right to life by the rampant spread of infectious diseases and poverty and the lack of tools to combat these two deadly weapons. Malawians are stripped of their right to liberty because of their lack of access to education (without knowledge, their freedom becomes more and more limited by the day). Malawians are stripped of their right to property by the lack of access to economic opportunity and/or advancement. According to Locke’s theory, the Malawian Government should be stepping in to solve this disaster of human rights…but this is not happening. They argue that they do not have the capacity or the resources to tackle the vast public problems in Malawi. I would argue (based on the government’s decision to build a brand new multi-million dollar Parliament building) that government corruption is getting in the way of these basic human rights. Fortunately, CHDI is in Malawi fighting for the inherent rights given to every human being on the planet (that these Malawian people are tragically being deprived of). Some people might perceive initiatives like CHDI as a charitable effort, but the truth is that initiatives like the one I worked for this summer are merely a cry for adjustment in morality.