“Give to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself – that is my doctrine.” -Thomas Paine If something is my right, then it ought to be another’s.
Category Archives: Thomas Paine in Today’s World
On Being Wise vs. Being Gratified
Wisdom is not the purchase of a day
Thomas Paine
On the Popularity of Fox News
“Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.” -Thomas Paine If Glenn Beck says the government wants to tax your breathing under the guise of global warming legislation, that doesn’t mean it’s true. If Sarah Palin tells us that health care reform is an evil plot, it’s more a reflection of …
On Toyota, Recalls, and Reputation
“Character is much easier kept than recovered.” -Thomas Paine The reputation Toyota had earned as a trusted global car-maker took decades to build, but mere weeks to lose. Their most valuable asset too easily squandered and perhaps never fully recovered. There’s a lesson in there for all of us.
On Dick Cheney Boasting of His Support for Torture
“An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws.” -Thomas Paine When former vice president Dick Cheney parades his support for torture in front of the world, he abdicates all moral authority along with the principals of freedom and liberty …
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On Justice for Terrorists
“He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” -Thomas Paine Vengeance is a self-fulfilling prophesy, feeding on its own cycle of hate and retribution. Victory over the insidious pull of a false sense …
On the Better Use of a Billion Dollars: Corporate Bailouts or Scholarships
“A nation under a well regulated government, should permit none to remain uninstructed. It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its support.” -Thomas Paine, Rights of Man Believing that a company is too big to fail, while the education of the coming generation falters, is an aristocracy of government-by-corporation that cannot …
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On the Birther Movement
“To argue with a man who has renounced his reason is like giving medicine to the dead.” -Thomas Paine There is no evidence or incontrovertible proof available to those who choose to cling to irrational prejudice and fear. Like giving medicine to the dead, rational thought and objective observation come too late.
On the Value of Hanging Out with the Right People
“Better fare hard with good men than feast it with bad” -Thomas Paine It is not the relative difficulty or ease, but the caliber of people with which we associate, that shapes the course of our lives.
On Released Memos Justifying Torture
“An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws. He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates his duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” -Thomas …