People's Different Faculties

2. People's Different Faculties

Madison‘s first method to handle the mischiefs of faction leaves important point to ponder: that people naturally carry different interests depending on the

societies that raise them. People‘s different situations let them form their own opinions, and eventually resulted in different interests. This condition also known as

the different faculties of men, where it is originated from people‘s different amount of property.

The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government. From the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property, the possession of different degrees and kinds of property immediately results; and from the influence of these on the sentiments and views of the respective proprietors ensues a division of the society into different interests and parties. (Federalist Paper no. 10)

The first method contains Madison‘s prescription in the effort of uniforming people‘s opinions, passions, interests. It is true that forcing people to have same ideas

upon certain issues is a fruitless effort. Madison yet somehow managed to find a way upon certain issues is a fruitless effort. Madison yet somehow managed to find a way

This condition has created people‘s demand of higher power‘s protection towards their wealth. Young American government under Articles of Confederation could not

provide people such adequate protection, since the central government was ousted. They needed new set of regulations which enable the central government in

actualizing people‘s demand of people‘s different faculties protection, moreover their wealth.

James Madison got his way in shaping people‘s attention to one specific goal: how to create a government that is responsible to its people‘s different virtues as well as able in protecting their rights. Through Federalist Paper no. 10, Madison managed to wake people‘s attention to the need of strong established government under Constitution. In supporting people‘s consciousness upon their different distribution of property, James Madison agreed on Locke‘s idea that property ownership holds

important factor in terms of people‘s way to behave in society. Locke stated,

Humans know what is right and wrong, and are capable of knowing what is lawful and unlawful well enough to resolve conflicts. In particular, and most importantly, they are capable of telling the difference between what is theirs and what belongs to someone else. Regrettably they do not always act in accordance with this knowledge. (D., James. Locke versus Hobbes, from http://jim.com/hobbes.htm ).

to harm other human beings or abuse social values, and that men are ruled by reason, property ownership infl uences people‘s way to behave in treating others among society. Therefore the peaceful state of nature ruled by men‘s reason might be disturbed by the different distribution of property ownership.

Locke reasoned that the peaceful state of nature is possibly harmed since the invention of monetary system:

Keadaan alamiah yang penuh damai itu berubah setelah manusia menemukan sistem moneter dan uang. Penemuan itu menyebabkan terjadinya proses akumulasi kapital dan pembenaran atas hak-hak pemilikan. Inilah menurut Locke kemudian menjadi sumber malapetaka manusia. Sebelum ditemukannya uang, perbedaan kekayaan antara sesama manusia tidak begitu mencolok, sebab orang tidak akan mengumpulkan benda-benda kebutuhan hidupnya melebihi apa yang dibutuhkan dan dikonsumsikannya. (Suhelmi, 2001, p. 191-192)

Locke mentioned that people ‘s peaceful state of nature changes since they invent monetary system and money. Naturally, after getting to know money and how to use it, people will start valuing things with numbers, and this will justify their actions in owning things. Before monetary system was invented, people bartered things to get what they needed, without being obsessed in collecting things, compared to what modern people do with money. Ancient people used to be less complicated by only trading basic things as the part of survival process. Since the invention of monetary system, people started to use money to value things, to get what they want instead of what they need, to form groups which benefit them in return. To sum up, money has Locke mentioned that people ‘s peaceful state of nature changes since they invent monetary system and money. Naturally, after getting to know money and how to use it, people will start valuing things with numbers, and this will justify their actions in owning things. Before monetary system was invented, people bartered things to get what they needed, without being obsessed in collecting things, compared to what modern people do with money. Ancient people used to be less complicated by only trading basic things as the part of survival process. Since the invention of monetary system, people started to use money to value things, to get what they want instead of what they need, to form groups which benefit them in return. To sum up, money has

Social gap between rich and poor exists, because each person has different amount of wealth. Property is divided unequally, and in addition, there are many different kinds of property; men have different interests depending upon the kind of property they own. For instance, the interests of landowners differ from those who own businesses. Government must not only protect the conflicting interests of property owners; it must, at the same time, successfully regulate the conflicts that result from those who own, and those who do not own property. Madison realized that this unequal distribution of property is one of the most common source of faction, as he puts it in Federalist Paper no. 10.

But the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society. Those who are creditors, and those who are debtors, fall under a like discrimination. A landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a moneyed interest, with many lesser interests, grow up of necessity in civilized nations, and divide them into different classes, actuated by different sentiments and views. The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation, and involves the spirit of party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of the government. (Federalist Paper no. 10)

Since property ownership being distributed unequally, people of different classes will be having different interests as well. Taking people with landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a moneyed interest, with many lesser interests as relevant samples at that time, Madison tried to explain that people with different amount of wealth will simply form classes or groups based on their financial Since property ownership being distributed unequally, people of different classes will be having different interests as well. Taking people with landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a moneyed interest, with many lesser interests as relevant samples at that time, Madison tried to explain that people with different amount of wealth will simply form classes or groups based on their financial