“When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.”
Thomas Paine did not suffer fools lightly. He did not think highly of the “sunshine patriot”, and understood that the liberty he fought for and for which he inspired others to fight can only persist where there is ongoing diligence toward its preservation; where there is direct and ongoing limits of power. That once we abandon that diligence and give up the privilege of thinking for ourselves, giving in to distraction and comfort, allowing others to order our minds, then we will look up only to find our liberty and freedom disappearing over the horizon.
Questioning power is not sedition; it is not giving aide to any enemy. It is a patriotic duty, lest unquestioned, untested power exceed its bounds and infringe the rights that Paine and others fought to win for us hundreds of years ago.
What would Paine think if he were here today to look out over the landscape of our public and political discourse?
Thomas Paine – The First American Blogger
His Words in Today's Context
