I recently found myself in Lewes, East Sussex which is where Thomas Paine lived for a period. There’s also a folk song called Tom Paine’s Bones which I like, and a trad. tune called “The Rights of Man” which is one of my favourites. So I figured that 3 coincidences make it worth reading the book! And it’s free on Project Gutenberg.
I really liked reading it! It’s a good book. He basically establishes all the principles of a liberal, democratic government complete with a welfare system and progressive taxation and like, describes it all clearly and argues for it well. He makes really good, clear, simple arguments with no pomposity and it’s good writing despite being in an 18th century style. I want to write like that.
It was making me think a lot about a) how far things have come since he wrote that, like we have (…had) a liberal (ish) democracy (ish) with a welfare state – but all those things are more under attack than any times ince their establishment!! It’s quite depressing. But b) how wrong-placed trust in free trade was.
For Paine, it seems that free-trade (“commerce”) was the answer to all the differences in resources between countries that would be solved by war – except he thinks that wars serve no purpose other than to raise taxes. I guess post WW2/post-fascism it’s difficult to make that argument but it’s a good antimillitarist argument. Idk, im not sure where I am on this issue.
So yeah, Paine things you get rid of your monarchies, convert to democratic republics, countries lose their main incentive for conflicting with each other (since the government is directly accountable to the people within it who broadly don’t want england to go to war against russia (18th century version) for no reason) and all resources differentials are settled by commerce. I guess the last bit is right, it’s just capitalism and commerce as we have it today create so much of their own inequality, within countries.
I guess he only means free-trade between nations, i expect he’s actually broadly in favour of things like price controls given his welfare state stuff. Hmm, okay, maybe i do still agree with him.
idk, i think a lot about the horrors of capitalism and modern nation-states. what would paine think…
he’d be pissed we still don’t have a constitution, and are broadly ruled by an intriguing and politicking cabinet who are broadly unaccountable except by one cross on a piece of paper every 5 years. yeah, he’d be real mad. we need more democracy!!!
I enjoy how much he goes after Edward Burke, like absolutely dissing him but in 18th century language so it reads very differently but you see the heart of the insult and it’s severe!
He makes good and interesting arguments for (or rather, against) religous toleration/intoleration (ie, don’t need any government on it thankyouverymuch just leave people worship as they be). he makes a really lovely argument in favour of religious diversity comparing all the faiths of the world to a (very) large family all bringing different gifts to their parents, and that if they all brought the same gift it would seem either a) “cold appearence of contrivance or the harsh one of control”. too rite!
Whilst he truly does seem to have the welfare of all people in his heart and interest, he does get minus points for casual antisemitism, sadly typical.