A Natural Right to Housing (part 4b): Rousseau

In part 4a, I described Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality. Rousseau uses the Discourse on Inequality to describe humans in a state of nature where people are "savages" bound only by self-preservation and a "do as little harm as possible" rule. He then walks through how societies are formed initially for social purposes, but ultimately begin to use a division of labor to increase material well being. This eventually leads to the creation of property, laws, and an "unnatural" inequality. I will now turn to his Discourse on Political Economy and then in part 4c, I'll conclude with a review of On Social Contract, Rousseau's main thesis about how government should be formed.

Rousseau argues that "since all society's commitments are reciprocal by nature, it is impossible to put oneself above the law without renouncing its advantages, and no one owes anything to anybody who claims to owe nothing to anyone else." This reciprocity is central to Rousseau's thinking about the role of government and the basis of society. He says "is it not the commitment of the body of the nation to provide for the protection of the least of its members with as much care as for that of all the others?" Rousseau is even more radical in economic terms, arguing that it is not for government to create economic equality by taking wealth away from the rich or by creating subsidies for the poor, but rather government should eliminate the means that allow the rich or the poor to come into being.

Rousseau is moving away from his view of government in Discourse on Inequality where he viewed government solely as a means of furthering the wealthy's self-interest in protecting property. He is now promoting a view of government that protects the rights of citizens but also requires providing for basic needs (public education already having been defined as a basic obligation of government). He spells out three issues to consider when developing tax policy that underline this change: 1) proportional taxation (i.e. those with more should pay more), 2) subsistence exemptions (i.e. that basic necessities should not be taxed at all), and 3) the benefits derived from government (i.e. that the rich benefit more than the poor).

Next, in part 4c, I'll address Rousseau's primary treatise, On Social Contract, where he more explicitly spells out how he thinks government should be formed.