Left Side of the Aisle #90 - Part 6

PS: Thomas Paine quote

With a bit of time left, I'm going to include this, which I've been wanting to do for some time. I'm going to read you a quote and I want you to guess the source. Here it is:

Land, as before said, is the free gift of the Creator in common to the human race. Personal property is the effect of society; and it is as impossible for an individual to acquire personal property without the aid of society, as it is for him to make land originally.

Separate an individual from society, and give him an island or a continent to possess, and he cannot acquire personal property. He cannot be rich. So inseparably are the means connected with the end, in all cases, that where the former do not exist the latter cannot be obtained. All accumulation, therefore, of personal property, beyond what a man's own hands produce, is derived to him by living in society; and he owes on every principle of justice, of gratitude, and of civilization, a part of that accumulation back again to society from whence the whole came.

This is putting the matter on a general principle, and perhaps it is best to do so; for if we examine the case minutely it will be found that the accumulation of personal property is, in many instances, the effect of paying too little for the labor that produced it; the consequence of which is that the working hand perishes in old age, and the employer abounds in affluence.

So who was the source? It was Thomas Paine. So take that, all you right-wing bozos ranting about how the "Founding Fathers" were the source of all social and political wisdom: Thomas Paine, describing land as a "free gift in common to the human race" and declaring personal riches are "the effect of paying too little for the labor that produced it," was a socialist.

Thanks to the blogger Digby for providing the quote.

Sources:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/thomas-paine-knew-he-didnt-build-that.html