Agrarian Justice
Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was an author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He has been called "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination." Born in Thetford, in the English county of Norfolk, Paine emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 in time to participate in the American Revolution. His principal contributions were the powerful, widely read pamphlet "Common Sense" (1776), advocating colonial America's independence from Great Britain, and "The American Crisis" (1776-1783), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series. Paine was also deeply involved in the early stages of the French Revolution. He wrote the "Rights of Man" (1791), in part a defence of the French Revolution against its critics, in particular the British statesman Edmund Burke. Despite not speaking French, he was elected to the French National Convention in 1792. The Girondists regarded him as an ally, so, the Montagnards, especially Robespierre, regarded him as an enemy. In December of 1793, he was arrested and imprisoned in Paris, then released in 1794. He became notorious because of "The Age of Reason" (1793-94), his book advocating deism, promoting reason and freethinking, and arguing against institutionalized religion and Christian doctrines.
Stats for nerds
9recommend
29mentions
19people
2010–2026years
34% recommend62% neutral3% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- UBI doesn’t need to be a “left” idea.
See the Libertarian angle f.ex https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geolibertarianism
Or read John Lockes argument on how land, as given by God to all, must be shared fairly.
Expanded a bit upon by Thomas Paine https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrarian_Justice
- Of course it causes society to suffer. This is not a new concern: https://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2010/10/estate_tax...
Personally, when I'm feeling a bit revolutionary, I find myself favoring Thomas Paine's solution in Agrarian Justice to help fund something like a UBI.
- The synoptic gospels and NT, but to choose one book from the NT, ...
The Epistle of James - as it has some strong counterpoints to other parts of the NT particularly the contrast of Pauline notions of grace with charity/works.
Emperor's New Mind, Penrose - probably my biggest take away from it was to consider how human perception works alongside, and co-mingles with, physics.
Web of Life, Capra - considering holistic nature of life, one's connection to the World at large; emergent patterns, complex structure birthing from simplicity (goes well with what I recall of Gleick's Chaos).
Zen and the Art ... - what is value, what is valuable to me, whither/whence/wherefore value; how should I relate to my children (long before i had any) and how to challenge them philosophically.
Republic, Plato - the first book that really set me thinking about the structure of society, about inequalities. And of course about stepping out of The Cave.
Koran & Hadith (partial readings, ie whole sections; couple of major hadith only) - [redacted]; but greater understanding of Islam and of religion in general; taught me to watchfully avoid being tainted by the labels people give themselves and look instead to their actions.
Mein Kampf (partial reading) - ideas have intrinsic moral value, that we should judge ideas on their merits and not by who has them; we should be careful about tarring people by simple association.
Art of War - preparedness, looking to supply lines, avoiding conflicts, not entering "battles" you know you'll lose (which I'd take as 'learn nothing from').
Christianarchy - what it means to be a Christian, who is and isn't "in".
Agrarian Justice, Paine - what is my place politically and economically in the world, whence do I derive the 'rights' to own what I do, whether such ownership is good.
Worth noting here that the ideas and impressions I got are unlikely to be what you will get, we react to books based on who we are, our frame of mind, moods, etc.. Most of these books I read as a late teenager, that at least in part boosts their impact. The impact is not necessarily the purpose of the book, quite the opposite in some cases.
- Seeking in advance the idea that is right (or left) on the political spectrum is a bad approach, and anyway gets you nowhere in the face of an issue like basic income where heroes of the right and of the left disagree adamantly amongst themselves. If Friedman isn't "right" enough for you, how's Thomas Paine? See his pamphlet entitled "Agrarian Justice". Point is: there is no correct "right" or "left" or "capitalist" or "socialist" position on this issue. Opposing it simply because it constitutes a wealth transfer ignores that fact that every society - including America - transfers wealth already in many ways, and a cash payment could conceivably make less efficient (and paternalistic) forms of in-kind wealth transfers unnecessary. More fundamentally, I think you are defining "capitalism" and "right" idiosyncratically, among other issues.
- You can have basic income without income or business tax. Thomas Paine's Agrarian Justice proposed just such a system.
- Thomas Paine makes a good point for citizen's dividend in his pamphlet "Agrarian Justice". http://www.ssa.gov/history/paine4.html
Now that we live in a civilized state and people own all the property, it makes it impossible for one to live in a natural state. So, he argues property owners owe a tax to everyone reaching maturity. That way everyone has a chance to acquire property, education, or what not to live successfully in a civilized state.
