Although Paine believed his
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 10:47 am
Since the property of the rich would eventually find its way to all people, Paine hypothesized that property crimes would dramatically decrease and that the poor would no longer question the property rights of the rich. The poor would benefit greatly from the increased wealth of the rich as it was taxed and divided up impartially. With this system in place, people could legitimately pursue wealth as they pleased, as it would benefit everyone else.
plan had a great many advantages, he did not base his rationale on utilitarian grounds. For Paine, this was a matter of justice, not charity. All people have a right to land, but since we cannot go back to the days before civilization, this system of taxation was for him the best method of compensating people for their lost inheritance of the telegram data earth's resources. Since some form of compensation was needed to pay those who had been excluded from the opportunity to own property, Paine believed this was not redistribution. He was giving people what they deserved!
Simplicity was a hallmark of Paine’s thinking. He believed that simple things were harder to corrupt; and in an age of excessive bureaucracies and regulations, perhaps Paine’s simplicity would be a breath of fresh air in the world of politics. Paine was fundamentally a believer in free-market capitalism. Paine believed that “the invention of commerce was the greatest approach to universal civilization.” But as he matured, his optimism for commerce was tempered by the reality of grinding poverty for a worrying number of people. With his book Agrarian Justice , Paine sought to provide a minimum level of economic security and independence for the poorest. But this approach was based on rights, specifically the right of each person to his or her “natural inheritance.”
plan had a great many advantages, he did not base his rationale on utilitarian grounds. For Paine, this was a matter of justice, not charity. All people have a right to land, but since we cannot go back to the days before civilization, this system of taxation was for him the best method of compensating people for their lost inheritance of the telegram data earth's resources. Since some form of compensation was needed to pay those who had been excluded from the opportunity to own property, Paine believed this was not redistribution. He was giving people what they deserved!
Simplicity was a hallmark of Paine’s thinking. He believed that simple things were harder to corrupt; and in an age of excessive bureaucracies and regulations, perhaps Paine’s simplicity would be a breath of fresh air in the world of politics. Paine was fundamentally a believer in free-market capitalism. Paine believed that “the invention of commerce was the greatest approach to universal civilization.” But as he matured, his optimism for commerce was tempered by the reality of grinding poverty for a worrying number of people. With his book Agrarian Justice , Paine sought to provide a minimum level of economic security and independence for the poorest. But this approach was based on rights, specifically the right of each person to his or her “natural inheritance.”