Paine's Pains

Observing the madness of America, I am reminded of our country's origins, inspired by British author Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense. Paine's books The Age of Reason and Rights of Man made him an internationally respected philosopher whose ideas reflected ideals of human rights. 

Paine became disenchanted by the hypocrisy of some of his fellow American revolutionary leaders--especially George Washington--who were more interested in making money by dispossessing the Indigenous population and enslaving Africans. John Adams opposed Paine for advocating the right to vote for citizens who did not own property.

In 1797, Paine introduced the idea of a guaranteed minimum income funded by an inheritance tax. His opposition to war profiteers (twenty years earlier) in the Continental Congress made these Revolutionary War heroes uncomfortable. Paine's pamphlet Public Good argued successfully that large tracts of land west of the 13 colonies--where Revolutionary War leaders Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison were land speculators--should be government owned.