“It could have been no difficult thing in the early and solitary ages of the world, while the chief employment of men was that of ruffians to overrun a country and lay it under contributions. Their power being thus established the chief of the band contrived to lose the name of Robber in that of Monarch; and hence the origin of Monarchy and Kings.”
When Thomas Paine wrote these words in Rights of Man he saw the world on fire with revolution. From Kingdoms and Monarchs came the promise of democracy and the concept of freedom and a self-fulfilled destiny. Paine was aware, as evidenced through his writing, that he lived in a time of significant change in the course of human affairs – a crossroads.
Tom Paine expressed the Enlightened Ideal of the collective will of a people rising up to reject absolute power in the hands of a few; be they kings, fanatics, tycoons, or tyrants.
If Tom Paine were to awake in late 2006, would he see a world at yet another crossroad? And if he did, would he rejoice in the wisdom of the collective will of a united humanity striving towards a better world, or would he give up and watch the latest episode of Survivor on TV?