Government, on the old system, is an assumption of power, for the aggrandisement of itself; on the new, a delegation of power for the common benefit of society.
Thomas Paine: “Government, on the old system, is an assumption of power, for the aggrandisement of itself; on the new, a delegation of…”
Editor's note · Context
Paine contrasts the old system of government, which assumes power for its own gain, with the new system, which delegates power for the common good of society.
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The meaning, then, good people, of all this, is: That government is governed by no principle whatever; that it can make evil good, or good evil, just as it pleases.
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It was Government dethroning Government; and the old one, by attempting to make a new one, made a chasm.
It has nothing to dread from attacks; truth has given it an establishment, and time will record it with a name as lasting as his own.