Race Inequality

The views on race bias in the writing of Thomas Pain are not common for the majority of contemporary people, as the author lived in the time when slavery was a common thing. In Common Sense, Thomas Pain rejects any kind of inequality and class discrimination, but he expresses his ideas only concerning the issues of whites. He speaks as if only whites are the masters of life and the black people are less important and belong to the second quality category. This point is quite controversial in his pamphlet, since he protects equality and claims Jews and Blacks are inferior (Dunn n.pag.). The contemporary people still can take into consideration the words of Thomas Paine as a source of deep philosophy concerning social relations. Despite his being a victim of unmoral and cruel epoch, his ideas toward equality can be studied and applied by the modern people for the formation of a perfect society. An idea of racial inequality can be evaluated from the perspective of monarchy, which is blamed by the author and regarded as ordinary people, just as everyone in the world. Consequently, the citizens of America must understand that there is no preferable nation or race with noble origin. Presenting the conclusion of Thomas Paine as the example, it is possible to identify a very striking similarity which the then white community of the US did not notice or were unwilling to do it. The whites suppressed the blacks similar to how the British monarchy suppressed American colonies. Thomas Paine was not an exception. In opposition to racial inequality, the issue of social and class inequality is blamed by Paine more openly and directly.

Society and Class

The major problem of the pamphlet is the inherited English consciousness which idealizes tyranny and inequality. The British colonist is not only a powerful control of American nation but also it is a heart of the society. The early settlers suffered from the tyrannical circumstances of life. Although they left Britain and its monarchical suppression, they still cherished the idols of monarchy instilled deep in their hearts for centuries. They build the society due to the monarchical standards. Although the modern society is far from the old traditions, some people experience deep pain for African Americans who suffered from the violent discrimination, white some others continue hating them. In America which overcame different ways of racial humiliation, such as slavery and segregation, the structure of society and prejudices yet exist. Common Sense proclaims a separate way for free and independent people of America, showing the best example for the whole world of place where people can make their personal way being free and living in a democratic society. Thomas Paine argues that America is a different place for special people living in meritocracy as a form of Common Sense (n.pag.). Such people should not divide humanity into secondary and primary people because it contradicts the domain of freedom.

Freedom

The author of the pamphlet proclaims a new form of freedom, the one which can exist in a newly born continent of America. Common Sense is about American freedom, not British or European. Paine considers that this land is to become a location of liberty that is impossible in the entire world, as it “had been hunted around the globe” (Paine n.pag.). No matter what nations arrive to this land, it can give them freedom in its full essence as soon as the people want to be a united nation – a nation of Americans with their constitution and democracy. Of course, the consideration of Thomas Paine is related to the 18^th century with all the prejudices and traditions, but its pure nature is the same. Freedom encloses the free ability of people to express their ideas without fear as the first stage of democracy. Jeremy Black depicts the intention of Thomas Paine as well as the entire colonist America to attain freedom similar to the desire of children to have independence form parental control in its full essence – with the freedom of language, religion, and traditions (125). That is why the life of contemporary American people is opposite to the life of the British society. Americans, who came to understanding of the notion and essence of true freedom, value it as the source of a perfect society and a truly democratic country. The concept of freedom for the US is closely related to the notion of justice.

The role of justice is one of the most essential for the formation of pure democracy and the productive legal system of the state. The control of Great Britain in America was not cruel and strict in military terms: however, it was not just either. Justice is based on social equality and normally contradicts monarchical institutions. The taxes during the British Empire domination were quite brutal and the colonists behaved with Americans as if they had the right for any property (Lewandowski 3). Similarly, people from Britain who were tired of religious injustice arrived to America and intended to build a new country with a new, freedom-based form of the state power. In his works, Thomas Paine emphasizes that justice in impossible within a suppressed society where everyone is concerned with their own daily affairs only (n.pag.). Therefore, the issue of justice is accompanied by freedom and equality, which can be developed only through considering the idea of patriotism. The source of a new free and perfect country is an equal and free society which is willing and able to build it anew.

Conclusion

Thus, the pamphlet can be a useful source of thought-provoking ideas for the modern reader as it develops structural and fundamental conclusions burning and actual during the preset time. America suffered from Imperialistic ambitions of Great Britain during the 18^th century, making the pamphlet an appropriate reasonable response to the situation. However, America, being a free and independent democratic country today, still suffers from different forms of social inequality: racial, religious, ethnical, and class manifestations of it . The contemporary reader can evaluate to which extent the development of a certain state is good with the help of the sufficient ideas of Thomas Paine. He idealizes and identifies a notion of patriotism. Patriots can even be born from the colonists who are devoted to America and ready to protect its independence as Paine did. However, the biggest problem of the American society is inequality and racial oppositions, which contradict class equality, freedom, and justice in the nation. Thus, despite the difference in time and premises, the pamphlet is stressing on specific values that can be useful for contemporary people as well.