Part one in a series on breaking though the control structure.
Thomas Paine 1791
Even though John Adams said "Yet history is to ascribe the American Revolution to Thomas Paine" a man who engineered one of the most significant events in history has largely been forgotten or dismissed. He changed the opinions of many people, was the mind behind the revolution and the separation from Great Britain. He was supposed to be a dress maker just like his father however, by the end of his life he stated....
Quote: "A share in two revolutions is living to some purpose."
Samuel Adams was one of the few who openly talked about separation but it fell on deaf ears. He had some great ideas but they were not quite as revolutionary as Tom Paine. He wanted to separate and put George Washington in place as the perpetual ruler. Most people agreed in the colonies of Washington's importance. His ability to say no is what was impressive to myself. He could have had a third term as president. Instead he said no! He didn’t set the precedent that presidents rule until death.
Even Washington however spoke openly about not wanting to rebel against the crown.
"If you ever hear of my joining in any such measures, you have my leave to set me down for everything wicked” wrote on January 31, 1776 George Washington
John Adams, had his doubts regarding independence. On March 23, 1775, in a letter to Horatio Gates, he writes “No such Matter- Independency is a Hobgoblin, of so frightful, that it would throw a delicate Person into Fits to look it in the face.”
In November 29 1775, 5 months before being selected on the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence,
Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to John Randolph. In this letter he wrote, “Believe me, dear Sir, there is not in the British Empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain that I do...We want neither inducement nor power, to declare and assert a separation. It is will alone which is wanting, and that is growing apace under the fostering hand of our King.”
Thomas Paine's quote sums up the situation we have going on today between crypto currency and fiat currency. “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”
Separation, was not inevitable. Most grievances with the crown were insignificant in their minds. They wanted the king to shape up and treat them a little better. History tells us about taxation without representation or other grievances but Paine did not think small! A stern, principled and some even called him a stubborn man. He had a big idea that no other leaders were really considering and he did it in a way that swayed the masses, as well as the intellectuals.
NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO RULE OVER ANYONE.
Common Sense quotes...
"If we inquire in to the business of a king we shall find that they have none."
"In England a king hath little more to do than to make war and give away places. In plain terms is to impoverish the nation"
“One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in kings, is, that nature disapproves it, otherwise, she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion.”
“Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer...”
He recognized that humans as rational beings are able to recognize the laws of nature. However, we were still stuck in the normal boundaries of the control system. The monarchial or governmental power structure works outside of these laws by lies, theft and manipulation. They convince that they are necessary by manipulation.
Most people go through life thinking that life is running nice and peaceful so we fork over a little of our life in some form of currency to this leader and he (in turn) keeps it nice and peaceful. But not too much of this! Then we would think, why do we need a ruler at all. Rulers always need a problem to keep themselves in power. Formally called the Hegelian dialectic. Problem, reaction and solution. Which is being used to this day to control us. They create the problem, we give them the reaction that they want and they have the solution. All manufactured in a nice neat package.
Rulers need to make sure that no one would loose track of the fact that they are necessary. So he would have to create a problem. A war, a crisis or at least a protest. Something would have to happen to keep him necessary. Something that the citizens could watch and think living without a leader would lead to nothing but death and chaos. Why do you think they run prison shows on TV constantly? They want you to know that if you act up, that is where you will go. Or they will just tell you everyday how a cop shot someone and how it was justified because they were just following orders. The same defense didn't work in nuremberg. Why does it work today?
Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Newton, Voltaire and others had a long argument about how rights originated. Thomas Paine was the man that broke it open and forced the argument in to the public. Thomas Paine said that if we have rights they come from a time before rulers, kings or governments. They belong to us all. Later, he would be one of the first to put the words rights and man together. Today we call these human rights.
Thomas Paine's pamphlet immediately spread throughout the colonies. Numerous sources state that more than 150,000 copies were distributed throughout America after only the first few months. Common sense continued to circulate through the colonies but Paine remained anonymous after it was published. People thought that Benjamin Franklin or John Adams had written the pamphlet. Even though John Adams wasn't a big fan of Paine he said “It has been very generally propagated throughout the continent that I wrote the pamphlet Common Sense. I could not have written in so manly and striking a style.”
Paine could have cared less about becoming famous, instead he wanted to spread his message throughout the colonies for a cause he believed in. He cared more for the principles of his book than fame.
In February 14th 1776, with the author of Common Sense still anonymous, Paine added a postscript to the third edition of Common Sense in which he states “Who the Author of this Production is, is wholly unnecessary to the public, as the object for attention is the doctrine itself, not the man. Yet it may not be unnecessary to say, that he is unconnected with any party, and under no sort of influence, public or private, but the influence of reason and principle.” He wanted to remain anonymous! For this and other numerous reasons I think he had more influence with the Declaration of Independence than history ascribed to him.
After the release of Common Sense....
“By private letters, which I have lately received from Virginia, I find Common Sense is working a powerful change in the minds of many men.” “The sound doctrines and unanswerable reasoning contained in the pamphlet Common Sense will not leave numbers at a loss to decide upon the propriety of separation.” George Washington
General Charles Lee wrote George Washington on his thoughts of Common Sense and the idea for independence: “It will, if I mistake not, in concurrence with the transcendent folly and wickedness of the Ministry, give the coup-de-grace to Great Britain. In short I own myself convinced, by the arguments, of the necessity of separation.”
Harvey J. Kaye, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, “Whether it changed people‟s minds or freed them to speak their minds, it pushed them – not all of them, but vast numbers of them - to revolution.”
Don't just be the change you want to see in the world. Become the unstoppable force that changes the world.
Afterword: I focused on the problems we see in our world to this day. Not the revolution but getting to the revolution. Gaining mass awareness is the epitome of everything we are trying to work towards. Yes Blockchain technologies are the first step in creating a new world. How do we get the rest of the world behind what we already know. We have the chance to decentralize our world. The only thing we have to do is reach out and grab it. How do we help them take the first step.
Also I never knew there was an introduce yourself tag so HI!