But, however our imagination may be impressed by painting and comparison, it is nevertheless true, that a great portion of mankind, in what are called civilised countries, are in a state of poverty and wretchedness, far below the condition of an Indian.
In "Rights of Man," Paine challenges the notion of "civilized" society by pointing out the widespread poverty and suffering within it, often worse than in so-called uncivilized conditions.
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It was Government dethroning Government; and the old one, by attempting to make a new one, made a chasm.
It was a sort of new form of government that insensibly served to put the old one out of sight and to unhinge it from the superstitious authority of antiquity.
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.
A knowledge of the practice was then joined to the theory; and all that was wanting to give it real existence was opportunity.