The Political
Thought of Thomas Paine
by Maurice
Bisheff
Thomas Paine thought of himself as a
“gardener of ideas.”
Thomas Paine’s moral and
political thought raises the question, “How
can we become a more self-governing society?”
Paine’s vision of
self-governance can be seen in his moral and political thought which is
relevant today to each and all.
I. Reason and Self-Governing Individuals
Self-governing individuals are necessary to
have a self-governing society. By self-governing is meant the willingness of
individuals consciously to choose and hold to principles or an ideal yet
flexibly apply that ideal in diverse situations. Thomas Paine said “My country is the world
and my religion is to do good.” For Paine the source
of the good went beyond a commitment to world citizenship. “The true deist has
but one Deity; and his religion consists in contemplating the power, wisdom,
and benignity of the Deity in his works, and in endeavoring to imitate him in
every thing moral, scientifical, and mechanical.” (The Age of Reason,
Thomas Paine, p. 84, In: Citadel Press, 1988). James Tepfer
describes this as “our living awareness of the Infinite Presence” (“Tom
Paine: Lover of Deity and Man,” by JamesTepfer, p. 1,
Placed in the language of the Age of
Enlightenment, Paine believed that natural law is inscribed in the divine
order, and emanates a Cosmos—a beautiful harmony and order—which exists prior
to and superior to history or governments. Natural law is at least partially
knowable through the moral disposition in man and the depth of his conscience.
Paine wrote, “As for morality, the knowledge of it exists in every man’s
conscience.” (AoR, p. 185). If you break natural law, your
conscience will tell you if you practice being attuned to it. In this regard,
Paine quotes Cicero, “The true law is right reason, comfortable to the nature
of things, constant, eternal diffuse through all, which call us to duty by
commanding, deters from sin by forbidding, which never loses its influence with
the good.” (Quoted In: Thomas Paine: Social and Political Thought, by Gregory Claeys, p. 93,)
The exertion of natural reason in pursuit of
the good is the core basis by which individuals can become self-governing; thus
strengthening a self-governing society. Paine advocated moving beyond “local
thoughts,” and encouraged individuals to think more principled and universally,
which then permitted greater flexibility in application. Paine believed
individuals can expand their ability to apply their reason for the good to
greater and greater circles of social interaction. It is “by the exercise of
reason that man can discover God. Take away that reason, and he would be
incapable of understanding anything.” (AoR, p. 70)
II. Self-Governance and Societal
Interdependence
Paine believed that man can infuse and draw
out the good of fellow men in society in theatres of political participation by
using his conscience and his reason. Society arose because men needed one
another, and is a workshop for its citizens to experiment and self-correct. “As
nature created him for social life, she fitted him for the station she
intended. In all cases she made his
natural wants greater than his individual powers.” (Rights of Man, In: Common Sense and Other Writings, edited by Joyce Appleby, 2005, p.
187); thus the need for a natural reciprocity recognizing our moral and
societal interdependence. It is through our sociability that we can
expand our perspectives to greater mutual understanding and more inclusive,
universal thought. In the process of reasoning with each other, we can view our
own limitations, those of others, and correct our errors in thinking.
In order to let happiness blossom in
society, men need the right to express their conscience. Self-evident human
rights such as freedom of conscience and religion are the foundations of
equality. Paine felt that human rights get translated into shared natural
rights through making claims to be tested by reason. In order to help enforce
these rights, then civil and legal rights by government create a civil society
for citizens to manifest their political claims.
Each right has a corresponding duty. Paine
said our first duty is to be kind to others. Paine also said that a person’s
corresponding duty is to allow the same rights to others as we allow ourselves.
From this basis we can use our abilities to promote mutual understanding. These
expanding circles of reciprocal duties and rights weave a tapestry, built on
democratic norms, of liberty in the context of societal interdependence.
The right of commerce was seen as
transforming the mind-set of feudal, dependent relations between men and their
government. It helped transform subjects
into
confident citizens. Trade was viewed not as laissez-faire, but in a web of
social interdependence. It was seen as a major modality for individuals to use
their
active
minds to develop better mutual understanding of others interests in society.
While aware that too much indulgence in commerce could lead to the decline
of spirit
and patriotism, making reason subservient to commercial interests, Paine
believed commerce was an important element in a strong self-governing
society of
expanding universal happiness.
Paine felt that man would use his religion
of reason to place commerce within a broader quest for lifelong education in
the arts, sciences, engineering, and philosophy in order to progress to a
universal society and universal happiness. For Paine, knowledge starts with the
Divine. “It is from the study of the true theology that all our knowledge of
science is derived; and it is from that knowledge that all the arts have
originated.” (AoR,
p. 76) Thus, the arts and sciences
should illuminate man’s highest spirit of reason in its motives and
applications such that it does not have to be concentrated solely in pursuit of
commercial interests. Art, science, and commercial enterprise can be placed in
service to humanity and universal happiness.
Some men and women, through greed or
disproportionate natural or social advantages, will contribute to others being
systematically impoverished in the imperfections of man-made civilization.
Since in a natural state, “The earth is the common property of the human race”;
thus each human being is equally entitled to have dignity and minimal share of
the earth’s bounty, including clean water, air, and access or rents from land (Claeys, p. 93). Gregory Claeys
points out that what was important in Paine’s thinking is that property not be
made a pretense for unequal or exclusive rights, and poverty should not be made
insufferable (Claeys, p. 100).
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Thus, men and women must discover those laws
operating in society which will create a greater harmony of overall interests. Democratic
communities will have to choose to redistribute some minimal baseline of
societal resources to those at least most vulnerable not as charity, but as a right
in the name of social harmony.
III. Government and the Common Good
Paine’s ideal of a self-governing society is
encapsulated as “The more perfect civilization is, the less occasion has it
for government, because the more does it regulate its own affairs, and govern
it.” (Rights of
Man, In: Appleby, p. 189). In this context, government was not to be
glorified, but is simply needed as a contingent, malleable solution to
restrain our vices and to restore some degree of harmony and social justice
through minimal social welfare to each and all.
Raghavan Iyer writes in Parapolitics
(Raghavan Iyer, In: Parapolitics, 1979, pp. 290-291),
“No man can fulfill his many wants except in the company of others; because of
the collective wants of human beings, there is validity and value to human
societies. But unfortunately, men want to bequeath the burden of finding
fulfillment to some external authority.
When embodied in imperfect men, whatever the laws, systems, or
government, this will gradually license every abomination.”
Paine wrote that democratic republics would
be judged by its citizens through a standard of res publica or a common good. The “common
good” involves a mental posture taken by citizens in their deliberations where
they account for yet transcend partial interests to look at the good for each
and all in their decisions. The common good and a democratic government are
thus posited as broad criteria for making government indirectly self-governing
because representative government is “owned” by citizens, and citizens are free
to appraise the outcomes of their government. Fair elections, clear laws
impartially enforced, clear performance accountability, and a transparent
appraisal of governmental outcomes were qualities of a democratic republic.
Since all human institutions can become deformed over time, Paine recommended
that each generation should renew their associations in developing new written
Constitutions appropriate to their times.
As individuals become more adept at using
reason to becoming more self-governing, collectively they would be able to
self-organize, trust each other, and need less government. Thus, the spirit of
communes, collectives, and self-organization can be seen as microcosmic
experiments in direct self-governance, providing prospects and possibilities
for a society of the future and a more self-governing society.
IV. State of
Using Paine’s moral and political thought,
how can we assess our contemporary politics?
Morally, Paine’s concept of reason has been
dethroned. Paine’s idea of the use of
reason toward the common good has
been deformed in the service of pursuing narrowly defined, separative, and overly concretized goals where commercial
interests equate with public purposes. An overly reductionistic
natural and social science has supported this goal denying the spirit of natural
moral reasoning for the common good. By denying natural law associated with
empirical facts, the transcendent infusing the immanent, the connection between
individual conscience, reason, and will is weakened.
This condition results in greater citizen passivity in moral spirit and
lessening of the creative imagination. Political consciousness is narrowed and
interests become partitioned. As the facts of human interdependence and its
apparent complexities overwhelm individuals and groups, faith and reason, fear
and fearlessness become confused, and simplistic political and religious
ideologies become the basis for action without incorporating the full range of
facts or humanity in the situation—the inverse of Paine’s reason.
Relative to Paine’s view of society and
government, Raghavan Iyer
in Parapolitics
(Iyer, p. 183) warns “there has been a dangerous
transition from the idea of a government of limited powers over citizens with
inalienable rights to the idea of the unlimited sovereignty and the material
welfare of the majority. It is an easy step from here to the perilous position
reached by most democracies today, in which individual liberties are violated
in the name of national security and prestige at home and abroad, in which the
mute and meek are often sacrificed at the alters of public utility and
political necessity.”
V.
Paine’s Principles as the Basis of Political Regeneration
How can we regenerate our politics using Paineite principles?
First and foremost, we must think back to the
ideals of the Founding Fathers: we need
more fearless, principled, disciplined thinking, self-governing individuals. As
citizens debunk media images and mindless conventionality, they will recognize
that societal pain is based on faulty thinking. They will continue to question
and search for some deeper principles as a quest of lifelong learning.
As individuals, we must restore natural
reason in our lives. The centrality of a Paineite
form of reason will regain respect over the “jockeying” of interests and
motives for personal gain in vogue in politics. The great spiritual traditions
of mankind, the exemplified principles of a Gandhi, King or of Paine, and the
growth of reverential ecological thinking—a testament to Paine’s reverence for
God discernable in Nature’s laws --are some of the sources now available for
individuals for freely choosing principles to live by. With an increasing
recognition of our global moral and societal interdependence and imbalance in
global resource utilization, consuming less so others may live will be an
example of self-governance in the near future, reflecting the Golden Rule found
in universal religions and philosophies.
Second, the American “system” must be
reasoned anew in relation to the universal American Dream. Glasnost and
perestroika (openness and restructuring) must occur to curb excess governmental
(especially executive branch) power and concentration of media. We must move
from a propertied to a consociated democracy. New constitutions of
sustainability must be adapted by the people ranging in scale from
neighborhood, watershed, regional, and national levels with the aim of more
just citizen representation and conflict resolution. Larger units and smaller
units of government must have a mutual “veto” power and negotiate solutions
that work for both the larger good and particular needs in a situation.
Third, each individual deserves minimal
dignity and a minimal economic base to pursue their natural rights. As
advocated by Paine, and Edward Bellamy one hundred
years ago, some form of guaranteed minimal annual income ought to be adopted
for each citizen, regardless of wealth or other distinctions. This
proposal
can create a universal basis for enhancing individual liberty and choice while
attending to those most vulnerable. The
proposal would also provide more flexibility for citizens and families to share
and pool resources on a more communal basis to accomplish goals in many phases
of their life. Individuals can reallocate time, energy, and commitments in
various areas of life as flexible work schedules and the growth of
self-initiated communes can allow for a greater diversity of the expression of
human life and a more universal society.
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Fourth, education should be accessible to all,
creatively integrating theory and practice, including the head, the hands, and
the heart, so citizens gain in their ability to think and apply their thoughts
constructively so to gain confidence as citizens. Half a school day should be
devoted to a service work project where subjects can be addressed on a
practical basis as well.
Finally, Paine conceived of autonomous
democratic nation-states forming alliances of mutual aid. Mikhael
Gorbachev has said that we ought to have a balancing of interests, not a
balancing of power on the global stage. Using Paine’s criteria of recognition
that moral, societal, and economic interdependence requires mutual aid,
affluent nations should allow less affluent societies greater access to the
world’s resources (and their own) as a matter of right, while all share
in the great arts, sciences, philosophies, and wisdoms of humanity in Paine’s
universal society.
Paine viewed unity at the political level,
above tribe and clan, as centered in a secular nation-state. Nation-states
represent unique needs and traditions, should possess sovereignty to
internalize their own environmental and social costs of their actions and
police their borders. Nations should also democratize and, if needed, radically
devolve power to sub-regions with cultural and economic distinctiveness.
Military and private arms trafficking, as Paine suggested, should be radically
scaled down and made more transparent.
Globally, internationalization, with the
primacy of nation-state alliances, is a major alternative to the trends of
corporate economic globalization. In the myth of a “flat” world of economic
globalization, where the world is made safe and frictionless for capital
expansion, public policies are pursued at the great risk of disenfranchising
people from their societies, their livelihoods, and dividing peoples in
nation-states into haves and
have-nots under unaccountable institutions. Citizens and nations
do not vote for corporate influenced governmental-military-industrial-media
alliances and trade agreements which establish “the rules of the game” subtly
conditioning the thinking of the masses. Paine believed without voting through
a democratic method, members of a nation become slaves to someone else; thus
disenfranchising them as citizens.
Currently, even with the existence of a
multitude of humanitarian non-governmental organizations, citizens and their
nations on the globe do not have any legitimate, democratic law-making forum to
legislate global rules of trade, environment, health, safety, or labor
standards. An emerging people’s global parliament, composed of associations of
peoples, must be recognized as a first step toward a global democracy.
While Paine advocated private enterprise
complete freedom from government control, he did argue for abolishing charters
for cities. Looking at Paine’s reasoning and his overall view of universal
society, I believe today he would advocate abolishing charters for large,
public or private multinational corporations which give special privileges and
concentration of economic and political power to the minority over the
majority.
All of these proposals are intended to
illustrate fresh directions in the aim of establishing a
“We
have it in our power to begin the world over again.” --Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
REFERENCES
Joyce Appleby, editor, Common Sense and Other Writings, by
Thomas Paine, with an introduction by Joyce Appleby, 2005,
Barnes and Noble Classics Series
Gregory Claeys, Thomas Paine: Social and Political Thought,
1989,
Raghayan Iyer, Parapolitics: Toward the City of
Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason, with an introduction by Philip S. Foner, 1988,
James Tepfer, “Tom
Paine: Lover of Deity and Man,”
[Editor's note.
Professor Klara Rukshina
also employed Paine's own term for himself, "farmer of ideas,"
(Paine's letter to Henry Laurens, 1778)
in her paper in
the Bulletin, volume 7, number
1, page 7, April 2006.]
10 Bulletin of Thomas Paine
Friends, vol. 8, no. 1,
March 2007