When, in countries that are called civilised, we see age going to the workhouse and youth to the gallows, something must be wrong in the system of government.
Thomas Paine: “When, in countries that are called civilised, we see age going to the workhouse and youth to the gallows, something must…”
Editor's note · Context
From "Rights of Man," Paine argues that societal failures like poverty and crime indicate fundamental flaws in the system of government.
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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.
I do not believe that any two men, on what are called doctrinal points, think alike who think at all.
As to what are called national religions, we may, with as much propriety, talk of national Gods.