Thomas Paine and Common Sense: A Revisit

Robert J. Fischer

Introduction

Thomas Paine was a man who greatly influenced many of our early colonial leaders and the fathers of our nation.  Arguably his most significant writing is Common Sense, which was published in 1776.  The following quote from his introduction sets the tone of the piece.  Although over 250 years have passed, his statements still hold true in 2025.

“The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.  Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all lovers of mankind are affected, and in the event of which their affections are interested.  The laying a country desolate with fire and sword, declaring war against the natural rights of all mankind, and extirpating the defenders thereof from the face of the earth, is the concern of every man to who nature hath given the power of feeling, of which class, regardless of party censure.”

Paine was born in Norfolk, England, the son of a Quaker businessman.  His maternal grandfather was a lawyer.  His early career was a blend of working with his father and holding positions in the English government. In 1772 he met and became friends with Benjamin Franklin, America’s Colonial agent for Pennsylvania.  With Franklin’s help he immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1774. He became the editor of Pennsylvania Magazine, where he wrote articles condemning British tyranny in the American Colonies. In January 1776, he published Common Sense, a pamphlet supporting colonial independence.  He is often remembered for the quote, “These are the time that try men’s souls.”  Because of his support for the American and French revolutions, the English Parliament found him guilty of treason.  In 1793, Robespierre, a leader of the French Revolution, believing Paine to be a threat to the new Republic, had Paine arrested as an enemy of France and sentenced to death.  With the intervention of his friend James Monroe, then American minister to France, and in lieu of the death of Robespierre, Paine was released in late 1794.  In 1802 he returned to America with the help of his friend Thomas Jefferson, who had just been elected President of the United States.  He died peacefully in 1809.

            Thomas Paine had a prolific writing career which included famous and still read pamphlets and books, including:

• Common Sense
• American Crisis Papers (1776-1783)
• Rights of Man
• The Age of Reason
• Agrarian Justice

A Time to Revisit Common Sense

The following presents Paine’s thoughts on government. A good summary of Common Sense comes directly from Paine.  I will then comment on the statement in terms of 2025 politics. My comments are in bold type.  It seems clear that Paine viewed government as a necessary evil.  If he were alive today, he might be a Libertarian!

“Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”

1. “Governing has always been monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind.”  I don’t agree with Paine.  Government is not always monopolized by bad people.  We have had and continue to have elected and appointed government officials who are dedicated to serving the people of the United States.  Early leaders such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson come to mind.  And, as I write this, Jimmy Carter also was such a person. However, Paine was correct that there have been many since 1776 who desired power for their own benefit.  Arnon Burr is a good example of an early leader who attempted to establish his own country at the expense of the United States.  Today, we might question what Donald Trump has in mind!  Keeping the rascals out of office is the job of an educated electorate!  Based on the past decade, we haven’t been doing a very good job.  In fact, it appears to me that the government is headed toward an oligarchy.
2. “Some writers have confounded society with government… but Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The first is a patron, the latter a punisher.”  I agree with Paine that society should be the power behind good government, as it is produced by our needs and wants.  The government should work to fulfill those needs and wants.  When the wrong people are elected, the government can become wicked.  When dreams are fulfilled, society is happy. When wants or basic needs seem to be neglected due to government operations, society rebels.  MAGA became a movement where those who feel disenfranchised by their government look for a way to gain power over the existing government. 
3. “An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws.”  While laws exist in a civilized society, they can be used by those who have grudges or seek power to punish or control the people who disagree with their positions.  This observation has not changed!  Over the past decades our government has changed laws to favor the far-right agenda.  Voter rights have been curbed in many states.  Court appointments have moved to the conservative side of the pendulum.  Citizens United has given power to wealthy corporations.  To make the situation worse, President Elect Trump has promised to use our legal system to punish those who he perceives as his enemies.
4. “[G]overnment…perverts the abundance which civilized life produces…It affords to them pretenses for power and revenue, for which there would be neither occasion nor apology, if the circle of civilization were rendered complete.” Life is simple.  According to Abraham Maslow there are five basic needs which include: physiological (basic survival, food, clothing, shelter), safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.  The first is a must for survival. Other needs can be more difficult to attain.  Still humans strive for more.  There are wants, and through our capitalist system, these wants are often met.  Government, which is controlled by the people, helps us meet these needs. Companies and individuals prosper.  That is the goal of capitalism.  Throughout history, government has stepped into free capitalism, using taxation and regulation to control business and provide funding for the government.  But government often devolves into overreach!  The power and the stated need for funding can lead to corruption of the system.  Donald Trump has promised to reduce government involvement in our capitalist system.
5. “[W]e still feel the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry, and grasping at the spoil of the multitude. Invention is continually exercised to furnish new pretenses for revenue and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey and permits none to escape without a tribute.” In my view, Paine shows his libertarian bias. Left unchecked, government often goes beyond its mandate.  Paine believed that people should be able to make their own decisions.  The American Revolution was about capitalism free from English control, and taxation imposed by England on the colonies without adequate representation. In the present era, there are many, both conservatives and liberals, who feel that government has gone too far in regulating private enterprise and individual decision making. The Republican Party, in particular, has stood for less government.  President elect Trump has said he will reduce government spending and regulation.  However, the question might be, “What is the cost in terms of protection for those who do not have a voice and safety from environmental deregulation if government regulation and spending is curbed?
6. “All power exercised over a nation…must be either delegated, or assumed…All delegated power is trust, and all assumed power is usurpation.” This statement is still true today.  When power is delegated, it is through trust given by the people’s vote of confidence in their elected representatives.  The people must trust that the system is fair and that their elected representatives represent their interests.  Any other power assumed by elected officials is taken without public authority.  Representatives, who focus on their own or solely on party agenda, corrupt the system.  It appears that many of today’s elected representatives might fit into this category!  Representatives like Matt Gates, Marjorie Taylor Green, and George Santos come to mind.  The most egregious is January 6, 2021, which stands as an example of our President using has office for his own purposes!

7. “He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression.” This is a simple statement of what is good for you is good for all.  In 2016 and again in 2024, the freedom to express opinions was supported as a Constitutional right.  However, with the abundance of information, our current ability to know what is true and what is a fabrication has become difficult. Many Americans do not take the time, or have the time, to FACT check what they read or hear.  However, there are NO alternative facts.  There can be only one truth based on evidence.  It is important that ever American learns how to determine what is FACT!
8. “Government…[has] no other object than the general happiness. When, instead of this, it operates to create and increase wretchedness in any of the parts of society, it is on a wrong system, and reformation is necessary.” (See number 4)
9. “The American constitutions were to liberty what a grammar is to language: they define its parts of speech and practically construct them into syntax.” The Constitution is a building block for good government.  America has thrived under the guidance of the Constitution for 250 years.  However, over the past few decades, there has been an intentional erosion of Constitution guardrails.  For example, one of the worst Supreme Court decisions was Citizens United, in essence giving corporations the same status as human beings. Giving the power of being a citizen to Corporations who can now influence elections has taken the representative democracy out of play.  Corporate monied interests buy elections, and thus representation.  Court decisions have given power to where power was never intended by our founding fathers.
10. “The original principles upon which [America] resisted…to remember them rightly is repossessing them.”  As a nation in 2025, we need to remember the basic principles on which this nation was founded.  Americans across all levels economic and social status need to engage in their right to vote.  Corporate money should not determine who represents human interests!  Corporate America and big money can establish PACTs that buy advertisements to support their designated candidates.  Can you believe what you read or see?  As stated earlier, Americans need to demand a means to determine what is fact and what is political fiction.
11. “What are [other things] to the inestimable blessings of ‘Liberty and Safety!’”  Today, we need to remember that our freedom is more important than economic achievements.  Wants are vastly different from basic needs! It is important that Maslow’s basic needs are met.  Government has and can help Americans meet these needs. But.in 2025, it appears that big money and corporate interest will fare too well.  The average American may not be so lucky.  In addition, while most Americans have not engaged in their civic duties, efforts to diminish the ability of those who do engage, have resulted in stricter election laws, and the erosion of individual rights.  The rights gained over the last decades by racial minorities, women, persons with alternative lifestyles, and many others are being threatened.
12. “I become irritated at the attempt to govern mankind by force and fraud, as if they were all knaves and fools.” This statement could have been made by me.  I am concerned that many Americans have allowed this nation to come under the leadership of a person who is not what he presents to the American public.  President elect Trump while speaking of caring about Americans, has openly challenged the Constitution.  It is apparent to me that he does not seek a balance of federal power.  Rather, he will, if left unchecked, develop an imperial presidency.  If this democratic system is to survive, Americans need to challenge the information that is presented on public platforms.  Fraudulent information needs to be labeled as such.  Since America is a representative democratic republic, Americans need to elect only the best educated and honest people to the offices that represent American value and views.