Thomas Paine

When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of its happiness: When these things can be said, then may the country boast of its constitution and its government.

Comments

  1. I suspect we boast a bit prematurely...at least by Thomas Paine's standards.

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  2. Now THAT is what I call thinking conservatively, in the best sense of the world.

    JMJ

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  3. Absolutely Jersey!

    I've often questioned why the so called "conservatives" cherry pick Paine conveniently leaving out the parts they dislike. Guess it's human nature, we see it ALL the time on blogs that profess to understand true liberty. Go figure.

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    Replies
    1. Paine can be a goldmine for cherry pickers - just like the Bible and almost everything else. One quote I remember is "Every nation ought to have a debt."

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    2. Like a household and a business it ought remain manageable. It seems reasonable to carry debt during times of economic dislocations, national
      crises, and during times of armed
      conflict. During times of a growing economy, business expansion, and full employment (whatever that means), budgets should be balanced and debt reduced.

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  4. Wouldn't the Objectivist view be that the poor are responsible for their own happiness? Rand would reject this statement, I think.

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  5. We're all responsible but still we put lifeguards on the beaches. People are fallible and isn't it bit harsh to let people die because they are responsible for that drunk driver or that waiter who didn't wash his hands? If this is Objectivism, perhaps it requires a perfect world and perfect people to be any kind of a guide.

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    Replies
    1. Rand and Objectivism has many positives, irrespective of what some would say. Rand and her Objectivism, like any other independent thinker and their philosophy is not perfect. Where Rand is lacking is she didn't take the concept of long term rational self
      interest far enough IMO. But that is a subject for a different day.

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    2. I might be an Objectivist if I think that it's in my rational self interest that the US adopt more Socialism?

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