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.