Thursday, 16 November 2000
.....
So I was looking at Bartleby.com and I thought I'd check out some early American writings. Never having read it before, "Ooh, Common Sense, Thomas Paine, that sounds good", I said to myself.
SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.
Boom! Wham! Right off the top, I like ol' Thomas. I'm gonna have to keep reading this stuff.
This is Thos. Paine, He's Good. <http://monkeyfist.com/articles/718>