Government ought to be as much open to improvement as anything which appertains to man, instead of which it has been monopolised from age to age, by the most ignorant and vicious of the human race.
Thomas Paine: “Government ought to be as much open to improvement as anything which appertains to man, instead of which it has been…”
Editor's note · Context
In "Rights of Man," Paine argues for the necessity of governmental reform and criticizes its historical control by corrupt individuals.
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