Property & Inequality
“The characteristic essence of property is to be unequal...the plunder of the few would indeed give but a share so inconceivably small in the distribution to the many”, here Burke is trying to express that if we redistributed the worlds wealth would there be enough to go around, would it actually make a difference - if we tried to equalise property how much of a difference would it make. If you have property (the essence of property is to be unequal) you will have inequality, Rousseau believes we shouldn’t have private property because it corrupts. Burke argues we have a right to private property- if this right exists it will inevitability lead to inequality. Burke was influenced by the liberal economical style of Adam Smith a philosopher and political economist, Burke thought it was the nature of property to be both private and unequally distributed. He often argued in favour of inheritance and the accumulation of wealth. He also contested that inequality is inescapable in society, that a guidance and leadership is essential. Without property the human race would be in stasis, in the most brutish and savage state of its existence, the abolition of property would destroy the division of labour. Property is a thing or things belonging to someone, it is the wealth each individual holds. Burke believed one of the important natural rights was the right to own property.
At the time of Burkes writing and thinking inequality was at large. You were either rich or extremely poor and those who were fortunate enough to withhold the title of rich were very few and exploited the poor regularly. O’Gorman demonstrated that in the context of Europe at the end of the 18th Century, the right to own property, and the right to transmit property by inheritance, meant that those who already enjoyed the ownership of property would be able to take advantage. The events of the 1970s reinforced Burkes elitism. The pinnacle of this was his belief that possession legitimized both ownership of property and political authority no matter how one came to acquire it. For thinkers such as Burke the manner in which property and power had been acquired had been an important element in establishing a title. At the time of the French revolution property was not to be regarded as a mental construct. It was described as ‘the bulwark of social order.’
In relation to today’s society, the notion of property and inequality are still relevant. Everyone still owns property and due to inequality some more than others. A prime example would be Thatcherism; during Margaret Thatcher’s reign she proved that as the rich get richer the poor get poorer creating further inequality. Alongside this, Burkeian traits were often displayed in David Cameron’s politics a prime example of this would be his push for ‘The Big Society’, a concept that linked well with Burkes idea of Civil Society.
