On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
It is the art of conquering at home; the object of it is an increase of revenue; and as revenue cannot be increased without taxes, a pretence must be made for expenditure.
Said by
Thomas Paine
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gutenberg.orgIt is the art of conquering at home; the object of it is an increase of revenue; and as revenue cannot be increased without taxes, a pretence must be made for expenditure.
Paine describes war as a domestic strategy to increase government revenue through taxation, necessitating a pretext for spending.
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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.
The Aristocracy had hitherto opposed the despotism of the Court, and affected the language of patriotism; but it opposed it as its rival (as the English Barons opposed King John) and it now opposed the nation from the same motives.
To possess ourselves of a clear idea of what government is, or ought to be, we must trace it to its origin.