In countering this argument, Locke suggested that „nobody can transfer to another more power than he has in himself; and no Body has an absolute Arbitrary Power.‟10 Each person, being „naturally free‟, only joins society and accepts government authority by consent.11 Private property was already in existence previous to any government, created instead as a natural right. To enforce those rights people came together to form a government the legitimacy of which lies solely in enforcing secure property rights:12 government exists only „for the mutual preservation of their lives, liberties, and estates, which I call by the general name, property.‟