Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" and current events, part 1

I am hoping that this selection of comments on my various readings actually makes a bit of sense.  [All of the emphasis in the quotes is from the source text rather than my own.]

“Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first a patron, the last a punisher.”

Excerpt From: Thomas Paine. “Common Sense.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/wp2Kx.l

I do feel the Republicans, for whatever reason, are no longer trying to govern the wickedness, rather they are trying to legislate their wants on the general population.  Discussing healthcare, if the Healthcare Industry and Insurance industries weren’t so focused on maximizing profit, but instead focused on reasonable profit, then the whole rigamarole of the healthcare debate would be gone.  What would be a positive step in the current debate would be that in places where insurance companies have pulled out because costs did not allow enough profits (or lead to potential losses), then the government allows people to buy into Medicare at a reasonable price.  If the insurance industry truly has no interest in those markets, then there are no market forces that are impacted, but the citizens in such locations have access to at least one insurance option, even if it is just basic government coverage.

“Wherefore, laying aside all national pride and prejudice in favour of modes and forms, the plain truth is, that IT IS WHOLLY OWING TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE, AND NOT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE GOVERNMENT, that the crown is not as oppressive in England as in Turkey.”

Excerpt From: Thomas Paine. “Common Sense.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/wp2Kx.l

This quote struck me as so very timely, considering the current President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is working hard to become an autocrat.  While I find that particular power grab distasteful, I am more concerned about a potential power grab here, considering President Trump has such limited understanding of how our government has traditionally worked.  It really seemed to be a surprise to him that Executive Orders wouldn’t allow him to do everything he wanted.  I am most disheartened though by the number of folks who seem to think everything is fine (he has over a 35% approval rating, while not good, it indicates a large number who have no qualms with how he is running things) and that Trump is doing a stellar job, and they don’t realize his constant attacks on the press and judiciary are actually doing harm to our republic, because there are people who believe him whole-heartedly, even after all of his lies.

Both of those excerpts were from the first section of “Common Sense” on the general origins and design of government.  While I have finished the second section, on hereditary monarchy, as well, I did not find any quotes that I wanted to carry over to this effort.

I think as I work my way through Paine’s “Common Sense” there will be additional posts as appropriate.