One of the preoccupations of this collection of notes is the subject of pamphlets.
I like them because I like brevity. I’d rather re-read a pamphlet to refresh my memory of a writer’s views than read his 15-volume masterpiece.
You can usually get through a pamphlet in one evening, and so I am more likely to reread Thomas Paine’s Common Sense than start in on Samuel Morison’s History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. I’ve read a lot of Morison’s History, But I have never began with Volume 1 determined to read until I finished Volume 15. On the other hand, I read Common Sense occasionally, just so see if my common sense is still working.
On my last reading, a couple of things struck me as fresh insights. It’s as if Paine had written this yesterday, rather than in early 1776:
• Paine quotes Milton as saying “never can true reconciliation grow where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep.” It reminds me of the political divisions today. But do you think that it’s true — that real reconciliation is impossible? This country has endured periods of “deadly hate” before, including a civil war.
• Paine held that elected representation works only when the elected don’t form a separate interest from the electors. We have allowed too much money, especially corporate money, to influence our representatives. We have lost them. It’s obvious that, as a group, they have their own interests, which pay handsomely, and we electors are an afterthought. I think Paine’s maxim is vital. If we want a better democracy, this is the place to start.
• Paine lived in an age when people spread conspiracy theories and attacked the reputations of learned people who tried to address problems with reason. I tend to forget that conspiracy theories were widespread before the invention of social media. Perhaps you do too. Here was Paine’s verdict about those who challenge the champions of research and of impartial inquiry: “Suspicion is the companion of mean souls.”
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