Trying Times: Inequality Through Locke and Hume

The song Trying Times by Roberta Flack came out in 1969, a time when the

United States was dealing with major social tension. Even though civil rights laws had

already been passed, many Black Americans were still facing discrimination in housing,

jobs, education, and policing. This gap between what the law promised

and what people actually experienced is the main social issue behind the song: social inequality.

Locke believed that governments exist because people agree to a social contract, where the government’s

main job is to protect everyone’s natural rights equally, such as life, liberty,

and property. From Locke’s perspective, social inequality shows that this contract is not