Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

            
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense is a pamphlet created in the 1800’s. It posed an argument for freedom from British rule at a time when the question of independence was still undecided. Once the pamphlet was distributed among the public it spread like wild-fire and quickly became a best-seller. With its undeniable popularity it even became the second most popular piece of literature, (next to the Bible of course.) Common Sense spoke in a way that people understood; it was structured like a sermon to catch the common person’s attention, speaking in a very personal language. Also, the Paine made references to Enlightenment era writers, and relied on Biblical references to make his case to the people.

Common Sense begins by stating a sensible argument that says, “a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT.” Thus he goes on to really preach the oppression of the people and how inconsiderably wrong and poorly they are being treated. He states that society is a blessing, yet government even in its best form is evil.

My argument for Paine would ask him a simple question “is the government truly evil?” In my opinion Paine is being a bit over dramatic and using terms that will just quickly grasp people’s attention, and create a rebellious rage among them. Evil is defined as “Profound immorality, wickedness and depravity especially when regarded as a supernatural force.”  I would agree that the government is wrong in what they are doing, and how they are oppressing the people. However, to deem the government “evil even in their best state” seems silly.   Yes they are being selfish and inconsiderate, however, they are not killing people or forcing them to sin. After all, the government’s first priority should be to serve the people and promote a greater good among them. If the underlying purpose behind government is to do those beneficial things, then is it ok they make mistakes in trying to? Can something with an essentially “good” purpose at the root be truly evil?