On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
What has served to continue this evil, is the pecuniary advantage which all the governments of Europe have found in keeping up this state of uncivilisation.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgThomas Paine: “What has served to continue this evil, is the pecuniary advantage which all the governments of Europe have found in…”
Editor's note · Context
Paine identifies the financial incentives that lead European governments to maintain a state of uncivilized international relations.
Share
More from Thomas Paine
Jan 1, 1791
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.
Jan 1, 1791
Discussion and the general will arbitrates the question, and to this, private opinion yields with a good grace, and order is preserved uninterrupted.
Jan 1, 1791
I have no idea, considering the reforms which are now passing and spreading throughout Europe, that England will permit herself to be the last; and where the occasion and the opportunity quietly offer, it is better than to wait for a…
Jan 1, 1791
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.