Who was more mercantilism john locke or thomas hobbes?

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1062325

2026-04-08 18:05

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Definitely Hobbes. Mercantilism fit right into Hobbes' overall theory of human nature as he saw al interactions between humans as "zero sum games." If one person gained, the other must necessarily have lost. Locke on the other hand saw the possibililties of humans trading to their mutual benefit. It was the whoel reason man entered into society at all, as agreeing to any contract that provided less benefit than no contract at all was "too gross an absurdity for any man to own." Locke is the progenitor of Libertarianism, Hobbes of conservatism. Locke would support free markets, Hobbes mercantilist, with government giving privileges to established, sovereign-friendly insiders.

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