The defect was not in the principle, but in the distribution of power.
Thomas Paine: “The defect was not in the principle, but in the distribution of power.”
Editor's note · Context
In "Rights of Man," this passage identifies the core issue with the early American governmental structure as a flaw in power distribution rather than fundamental principles.
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Discussion and the general will arbitrates the question, and to this, private opinion yields with a good grace, and order is preserved uninterrupted.
When men unite in agreeing that a thing is good, could it be obtained, such for instance as relief from a burden of taxes and the extinction of corruption, the object is more than half accomplished.
If, therefore, the good to be obtained be worthy of a passive, rational, and costless revolution, it would be bad policy to prefer waiting for a calamity that should force a violent one.
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