How do Marx and Locke view the role of private property?

Answer 1

The role of private property receives ample discussion in both the works of Marx and Locke. For Marx, private property is problematic and should be abolished because it “makes the labor of the many the wealth of the few.” In other words, the relationship between labor and property is one where wage-labour, or work for pay, yields capital. Therefore, “property… is based on the antagonism of capital and wage labour.” Since all private property is concentrated in the hands of a few, or the bourgeoisie, it only furthers the interest of this class of people and exploits the proletariat. Locke’s conception of the role of private property, on the other hand, is that it is compelled to exist and cannot be abolished. Locke asserts that God did not mean for property to remain “common and uncultivated.” Labor is what makes the difference between property in common and private property, and Locke believes that productive capacity increases with private property.