THOMAS PAINE 1737 – 1809
English born political philosopher, Paine not only invented the term ‘United States of America’, he inspired the revolutions both there and in France. He was forced to flee from England when he tried to do the same thing there. Awareness of his importance in the formulation of the American constitution and the American ‘way of life’ is pivotal to understanding the entity that is modern day America.
Having emigrated to the New World in the early 1770s, Paine became editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine and published one of the first essays calling for the abolition of slavery. With the beginning of the American Revolution, Paine made himself famous by publishing his book Common Sense. In it, he argues against the notion of a ruling class, insisting that government and society must be kept distinct. Independence for the American colonies, Paine argued, was both morally and practically justified. He continued to write and publish pamphlets throughout the War of Independence in support of the revolution.
Thomas Paine was a philosopher, political activist and revolutionary. As a political theorist he advocated that ‘the proceeds of land and property tax should be invested in a welfare system’.
After the success of the war for American independence, Paine went first to France and then to England. In response to Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, Paine wrote and published The Rights of Man, his seminal treatise on democracy and republicanism. According to Paine, all men are born with equal rights. The necessity of social living however, can bring about situations where we impinge on the rights of others. Moreover, we may not always have the means to protect our rights from others who do not respect them. Consequently, it is necessary to develop the state and a constitution in which individual rights are encoded as civil rights, enforced by the state on behalf of the individual. The only morally acceptable constitution is that of the democratic republic in which citizens are granted the further right to vote in order to choose their own leaders. It is just this right, to choose one’s leaders, that the hereditary monarchies of France and England deny to their people and provides justification enough to abandon them as immoral constitutions.
Similar:
The British Government, in response, charged Paine with treason, causing him to flee back to France. With Paine gone, the government quashed the British revolution before it had a chance to gain momentum. In France, Paine was at first welcomed and given a seat in the National Convention. However he was later imprisoned and only just escaped execution.
Paine developed his ideas on civil rights and justice in his Agrarian Justice. He argues that a state is predicated on the basis that it makes its citizens better off than they otherwise would be without the constitution. But, he finds, many of the poorest people in the civilised societies of Europe are in a worse state than so-called ‘uncivilised’ Native American Indians. The inequity has much to do with land and property ownership, a privilege Paine suggests should be taxed since the generation of wealth that makes it possible requires the support of society. The proceeds of land and property tax should be invested in a welfare system, access to which is a right of every citizen.
In 1802 Paine returned to America, but it was not to be a happy homecoming. In the Age of Reason Paine had argued against both atheism and Christianity in favour of a deism which rejects any appeal to divine revelation. Rather, the belief in God is claimed to be intrinsically reasonable, a logical conclusion to the question of why anything exists at all. Paine rejects both organised religion and the Bible’s portrayal of a vindictive, vengeful God. Unfortunately for Paine, America was resolutely Christian and frowned upon his religious writings, despite his previous service to her. Though he remained in the United States for the rest of his life, he died in obscurity.
Paine’s work is characterised by a rare integrity that rails against political oppression, organised religion and poverty. Despite the massive influence of his early writings he remains a philosopher who, curiously, is now rarely mentioned.
Arts, reviews & current affairs 