Thomas Paine Irrationality Of Government Summary

Government in and of itself is oppressive and irrational. According to Thomas Paine “Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one” (Paine 6). What he says there that government is something undesirable, but it must be accepted. There are many themes that run throughout the pamphlet as he writes about the inconsistencies and irrationality of government as a whole. The two prevalent themes are his problems with monarchy and that government is something that is unwanted and unneeded but nonetheless must be accepted. To properly examine Thomas Paine’s trepidations with monarchy, one must look at where his justifications come from. He states clearly that “Exalting one man so greatly above …show more content…
Monarchy is a form of government in which one person has supreme rule over the others until the day they die or are pushed out of power. In a sense he is saying that you cannot put one man above all others and tell the people that he is who they must answer to. He also says that in a bible it is strictly forbidden that a government be ruled by kings. Also, he goes on to talk about the hereditary aspect of monarchy which he deems unsavory. He states, “No one by birth could have a right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others forever, and though himself might deserve some decent degree of honors of his contemporaries, yet his descendants might be far too unworthy to inherit them” (40). What he states here is that one ruler, in a hypothetical sense might be a good ruler; someone who can truly rule with a fair and iron fist. His descendant however could also too do a good job but not as good as him. He reiterates through those points that hereditary succession is a possible and risk laden spiral