According to Americna scholar Thomas Paine, the fundamental purpose of government was to provide security to its citizens and the ultimte success of a government is to be judged by the extent to which it fulfills this role. The goal of government was to control how society should function or be organzied the method by which tha was accomplished should be chosen as the most appropriate way to achieve this goal. Paine begins the short phamplet with his views and thoughts on government in general. In his intial observaton, he notices that people have the inclination to interchange government and society. Drawing a sharp line, Paine argues that society is always something to strive for, whereas government is "a necessary evil." Society nurtures our ambitions and goals as a young nation, while governement is there only to keep man from his personal vices and sins. In the pamphlet Common Sense, it is written that if a nation with a central government impeded by oppresives forces,it is far worse than if such behavior were to occur on its own accord, since the citizens of that nation create and support their government. If the people are following this method they are supporting the poor conditions and failures of the government. If all of the citizens in a society justifiably behaved with good morals the idea of government would not be neccesary,
but becuase humans have natural weaknesses, a governmental authority is needed for the protection of life and property. To explain the purpose of government even further, Paine used the example of a small group of people placed in a small area of land isolated from the rest of civilization. He doubted that the people of this land would want to be confined to a solitary lifesyle, so they would start comnuicating with others to avoid living in total solitude. The people find it easier to live together rather than apart and thereby create a society. As the society grows problems arise, so all the people meet to make regulations to mitigate the problems. Eventually, they need to form a government to control these types of situations. When they begin using this new concept called government they may hold a few public meetings on occassion to discuss issues in the community. Yet, as the size of the society expnads exponentially, the society would need to choose representatives in the government to make laws and regulations. In order to make this government successful and functional, the people of the society would need to hold several elections to make sure that the representatives are in alignment with the desires of the people. Further along in Common sense, Paine explains that this imaginary society was used as an example to show that representation and not an absolute monarchy is crucial "The strength of government and the happiness of the governed." Paine argues that this is the best balance between government and society. Paine states that he was only using the example to describe his thoughts on government and how a proper government should be run.
Paine states that his opinions on governemtn are based on the the ideal "that the more simple any thing is, the less likely it is to be disordered." Having created this model of what the balance should be, Paine goes on to considers the principles of the British Parliament and attacks the British Constitution. Monarchial and aristocratic tyranny are the problems that Thomas Paine finds in the English Constitution. He goes on describe how the kings and other members of British royalty contribute nothing to the common people of England. In common sense, Paine believes that the single purpose of government is to control the vices of the common man. Additionally, he presents society as the energy that "promotes our happiness positively". As a result, government is created as an institution that sets preventative measures. CHANGE THE WORDS FROM HERE DOWN.
It is hard to say whether or not Paine whould have be satisified with today's American society becuase the modern style of government used in contemporary American society is very diffrent from the one used in the 18th century. I don't believe Paine would have been satisified with the small number of representatives in government to represent large amounts of American citizens. He believed that their should be one governmental representative for one American. In that way, he believed that was the only way each American citizen would be fairly represented.
In conclusion
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