“The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying this is mine, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows, "Beware of listening to this impostor; you are lost, if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody." With these powerful words, Rousseau begins the second part of the Second Discourse. Having previously argued that the state of nature was a good place, and a man had no good reason to leave it, he now describes the moment of leaving as a disaster for mankind. All the harms that man experiences have resulted from us (people) leaving the state of nature and entering into civil society. Rousseau believes that development of institutionalized inequality is a series of tricks played by the powerful people on the weak people, and so is the ultimate foundation of civil society began. The above quotation emphasizes the extraordinary nature of the creation of property. Rousseau is very clear that the connection between property and inequality is a direct one. Once property has been created, institutional structures emerge to fix it (the connection) in place, and mankind is then "lost."
Later on in the Discourse Rousseau implies that a modern man creates laws for leading so that there may be some rules of justice and peace. "Let us, in a word, instead of turning our forces against ourselves, collect them in a supreme power which may govern us by wise laws, protect and defend all the members of the association, repulse their common enemies, and maintain eternal harmony among us."1 This quotation clearly shows the origins of nationalism, when a group of people with common ideas, common desire, and common ambition collectively group together. With the creation of nations and laws in opposition to the other nations and laws, comes the prospect of war, a conflict in which both participants believe that their national interest is the "right" interest. “In learning to rationalize what would be deemed as wrongful actions, man has thus proven his corruption, for anything that must be rationalized is not natural since natural man acts entirely of an instinct.” It is thus conclusive that the “Discourse on Inequality” proves man's inevitability to become corrupt.
At this point I would like to argue, that even despite the ownership and the division of land being the catalyst for true inequality and a starting point for a corruption of a modern man (which I believe to be true and accurate observation), the natural emotions - such as shame, jealousy, arrogance, greed and etcetera - are in themselves enough to cause, in the future, a permanent damage, corruption and disparity amongst men. Without a doubt these emotions are the building block for inequality that leads to corruption. “Man may be in a state of nature, but the nature of man and his emotions will eventually dominate his actions.”2 To secure my argument I would like to refer to a well known (school program) novel by William Golding called “Lord of the Flies.” There, a group of young boys with no adult guidance use their emotions and ambitions to create laws, power and class struggle, consequently creating corruption and inequality among their “society.” Corruption among the powers eventually creates a very tense conflict in the end of the book, as a result of which two boys were killed and others enormously suffered. Conclusively, so long as such emotions are present within man, then perhaps corruption and inequality, and thus disaster is unavoidable.
1 , Jean-Jacques. “A Discourse on Inequality” Penguin Classics. 1985.
Patten, Alan. “Rousseau's "A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality" and the Corruption of Modern Man” available on-line: http://www.smalrus.com/rousseaudiscourse.php