White Man’s Burden

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Colonization, war, and unjust appropriation of the property of others have always been an inseparable aspect of colonization during the times which Locke and Kipling reflect upon in their works. The idea of one nation dominating over the other, less superior one, prevails in Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “White Man’s Burden”. The work of the English poet summarizes the general mood which has been circling the minds of the enlightened people of Europe to take the natives of African and Asian continents under her wings. John Locke, who is regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and is the author of “The Second Treatise of Government,” would be critical and firmly opposed to the message of Kipling’s poem. Locke would argue that invading other nations, subduing them to foreign will, and gaining capital from their resources is unjust because it puts the two nations into a state of war, inspires inequality which is brought about with the concept of money, and promotes scarcity of resources which widens the gap of inequality between men.

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                                            White Man’s Burden

               Colonization, war, and unjust appropriation of the property of others have always been an inseparable aspect of colonization during the times which Locke and Kipling reflect upon in their works. The idea of one nation dominating over the other, less superior one, prevails in Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “White Man’s Burden”. The work of the English poet summarizes the general mood which has been circling the minds of the enlightened people of Europe to take the natives of African and Asian continents under her wings. John Locke, who is regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and is the author of “The Second Treatise of Government,” would be critical and firmly opposed to the message of Kipling’s poem. Locke would argue that invading other nations, subduing them to foreign will, and gaining capital from their resources is unjust because it puts the two nations into a state of war, inspires inequality which is brought about with the concept of money, and promotes scarcity of resources which widens the gap of inequality between men.

               Locke’s “Second Treatise of Government,” on various occasions reflects upon the concept of one nation waging a war with another one, and therefore, putting itself into a state of war. The state of war is immoral and is contrary to Kipling’s message which he makes in “White Man’s Burden” to take the peoples of African and Asian continents under his supervision. According to Locke, every man was born in the state of nature, which is a state of absolute equality and freedom. This state of anarchy also implies that each man is born with two inherent rights: life and liberty of his person and a right to inherit his father’s goods. These rights of life,

liberty, and property are not to be violated by other men because that implies breaking the law of nature. By waging war with another, man puts himself out of the state of nature, and plunges into a state of war which is a state, in which all rights that man is naturally entitled to, be suspended. Locke acknowledges the two types of state of war: justified and unjustified war. When a nation puts itself into a state of war by attacking another nation, they wage an unjust war. However, the nation which is defending itself from occupation is justified to alienate the natural rights of man and subdue into a state of war. On numerous occasions did the state of war arise between the European countries and the nations of the Asian and African continents during the times of colonization. When the more advanced nation holds its victory over the more primitive one, the victor has the right to do anything he pleases with the lives of the people who fought in the war. The intruder, however, has no right to the lives of the innocent who do not have any connection to the war; nor does the intruder have the right to the property of others. Though the intruder would have no entitlement to the property of the subdued and no right to enslave the people who had no connection to the war effort, the intruder would, nevertheless, appropriate the possessions and expropriate the people of the nation which lost the war. In Locke’s book, “The Second Treatise of Government” the author denounces this violation of the rights of the Conqueror. Because the European nations frequently put themselves into a state of war with the peoples of African and Asian continents and violate the law of nature, Locke would regard their actions as unjust and unethical.

                       Kipling’s poem, contrary to the opinion of Locke on colonization, states that the primitive and unenlightened people of the Asian and African continents must be converted to the western culture and values, regardless of whether they want to be. The unwillingness of the natives to subdue to the new culture frequently put the two nations into a state of war which Locke would see as unjust and immoral. “The White Man’s Burden” brings a point of White

 

Man’s superiority over the less advanced civilizations of the world: “To veil the threat of terror, And check the show of pride; By open speech and simple, An hundred times made plain, To seek another's profit, And work another's gain.” (Kipling, Line 12) According to Kipling, the western world is superior to the one of the African and Asian continents, and it is White Man’s duty and right to advance the less developed civilizations, and seek profit as a reimbursement for the aid. Kipling acknowledges that, though the conversion of the African and European continents may not be a flawless one, in the end, the converted civilization will express its gratitude towards the enlightened intruders. “Take up the White Man's burden, And reap his old reward: The blame of those ye better, The hate of those ye guard.”(Line 30) Kipling claims that the enlightened nations of Europe are justified to put themselves into a state of war as it will benefit both nations in the future. In the third stanza of Kipling’s poem, the author speaks of the “sullen peoples” and derogates them as primitive and uncivilized. The author states that though the natives may oppose the intrusion of White Man into their lifestyle, they will eventually subdue into the new culture of Christianity and capitalism. This mood, which was summarized in Kipling’s poem, has been directing the actions of the western world during its time of colonization. This process of enlightenment and colonization is not a peaceful one and frequently leads to conflicts between the two civilizations, thus putting the two into a state of war. Locke would be opposed to Kipling’s message of the necessity to colonize the African and Asian continents and appropriate their recourses, because he claims the state of war to be unjust and contrary to common morals.

           Locke would be opposed to Kipling’s imperialistic idea of taking the natives of African and Asian continents under the care of the enlightened people of Europe because the more advanced culture infiltrates the concept of money into the simple civilization of the natives and inspires inequality between them. Though Kipling considers the less advanced nations be in need of enlightenment and directing to the right path of development in “White Man’s Burden,” the

 

simplicity of primitive life is not a disadvantage as it promotes a societal structure with no or little inequality between its subjects. The reason for it is the absence of money to store man’s property which is the sole source of differences in social status between men, hence inequality. “Labor justifies ownership” is a famous quote that Locke makes in his book, “Second Treatise of Government.” Naturally, man does not own anything besides his own person and the ability to perform labor. If a man performs labor over a land in order to cultivate it, the land belongs to him for there has been productive activity. According to Locke, the original property was land and cattle, because these were the only assets which had real value to them: they could be used to produce the basic needs like food and shelter. Because these assets were nondurable; men could not accumulate them in different amounts and, therefore, they lived in equality. With the creation of money, or something that has artificial value to it and can be exchanged for other goods, could finally preserve men’s assets. Locke states that money lies in the very origins of inequality.

            Locke views the lifestyle of the primitive peoples of African and Asian continents as pure and simple, while Kipling uses derogatory terms such as barbaric and primitive to describe the natives in his poem, “The White Man’s Burden.” In his poem, Kipling describes the primitive aborigines which need to be brought to light by the wise nations of Europe: “Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child.”(Line7) Kipling downgrades the natives because the way of life that they lead is simpler, and different from the one in Europe. As primitive as the aborigines may have been, their civilization was not necessarily lacking or in any way less superior to the way of life of the modern world because they lived in a society without social hierarchy and inequality between its subjects. The enlightened countries of Europe, along with their culture and religion, brought their most destructive to the aboriginal lifestyle gift: the concept of money, which the western world has long adopted as a part of its society and culture. With money available to the primitive peoples of African and Asian

 

continents, they were able to accumulate wealth in different quantities and establish inequality between themselves. Though the people of African and Asian continents were forced adapt to the “proper” religion and “right” culture, and live in a society where equality is not a virtue but an inseparable part of life. Because the western world inspired inequality between the natives of African and Asian continents, Locke would be opposed to the noble intention of the European nations to colonize the foreign lands.       

           Locke would disagree with Kipling’s statement which he makes in “White Man’s Burden” about appropriating foreign lands in order to seek profit because land appropriation leads to a broader gap of inequality between men. In “Second Treatise of Government,” Locke states that there is enough land, thus recourses, to support all men who are able to cultivate it, and mentions that the size of the land cannot exceed the reasonable boundaries designated to each man. This was the time of state of nature, a state of simplistic life, equality, and freedom from boundaries imposed by society and law. Before the formation of a society and social structure, the only thing that men possessed was their bodies and the labor which they could perform. Each man could perform roughly the same amount of labor, and was not able to store or accumulate it because the concept of money, or something what has value in it and can be stored for long periods of time, has not been introduced yet. Locke claims that because men were not able to hoard their assets without money, there was an abundance of natural recourses and land for all men to be equal. Locke makes three prerequisites to land appropriation: land does not spoil in its accumulation, enough has been left for others, and land’s accumulation is not harmful to others. The author states that as long as men do not breach the law of nature by intruding into someone’s possessions and life, equality will prevail. The advanced nations of Europe forcefully appropriated the land of the peoples of African and Asian continents and, therefore, deprived the natives of their own land. The scarcity of land which the aboriginal nations now faced inspired a

 

more competitive struggle for land. This competition further advanced the state of inequality between men.

         Kipling, unlike Locke, is not opposed to forceful land appropriation because he sees it as means of payment for the enlightenment which the western world can provide the primitive peoples of the Asian and African continents. In “The White Man’s Burden,” the author proclaims that the natives need help from the civilized nations of Europe: “Go bind your sons to exile. To serve your captives' need.” (Line 3) To Kipling, the colonization of the foreign lands, imposing of the western religion and forceful infiltration of modern culture into natives lives is a favor done by the European nations. He considers this favor of enlightening the primitive nations to be sufficient to seek profit as a reward: “To seek another's profit, And work another's gain.” (Line 16) Locke would see the colonization and exploitation of the natives “to seek their profit and work their gain” as a mere excuse for Europe to justify her conquest.

             Though Kipling might disagree, enlightening other nations by forcing them to alienate their customary culture, society, and exploiting their recourses as a reward for emerging into the more “perfect” lifestyle of the European countries is unjust. Forceful colonization and conquest is seen by Locke as unethical because it puts the two nations into a state of war, establishes inequality between the natives, and promotes scarcity of resources at their disposal.

 


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