“You have the works of Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift by your bedside but are currently reading Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, which, incidentally, you must lend me when you’ve finished. I’ve not yet managed to get a copy.”
Through the last, Selina’s sapphire-blue eyes widened. “You know what I have by my bed?”
— Moonstone Obsession
Two men. Good friends and great intellects.
Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine were two of the leading philosophers and political commentators of late 18th century.
Both were supporters of the American Revolution of 1776 which resulted in the formation of the United States of America as an independent country.
And yet both fell out over the French Revolution.
In short, the American Revolution set about to redress a specific grievance – that of lack of political representation and unfair taxation – while the French Revolution was in effect a civil war grounded in a broad grievance – redress for unjust society in which the ruling class prospered at the expense of the working class.
On this Burke and Paine were in broad agreement – socio-political reform was greatly needed – the difference lay in how to bring this change about.
Let’s compare the two of the most influential opening statements in history:
The American Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizens: “Men are born and always continue to be free, and equal in respect of their rights. Civil distinctions, therefore, can be founded only on public utility.”
Superficially there seems to be little difference between the two but there is one significant distinction and one on which Paine and Burke fell out over.
Burke, being a traditionalist, did not dismiss the involvement of religion in the political sphere. If man’s inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are given to him by God, then not even the state has a right to take it away.
Paine saw man as a ‘natural being’, following Jean-Jacques Rosseau’s philosophy expounded on earlier that century that human beings were essentially good and equal in the state of nature but were corrupted by the introduction of property, agriculture, science, and commerce.
Burke, who had conservative leanings, wanted to see change that occurred slowly over time and that respected tradition. Most important, he did not want to see the state usurp the power of the individual. Thomas Paine, on the other hand, believed that monarchy was unnatural and evil, and therefore the people had the right to overthrow such an institution at any given time. Paine saw the new state as an agency which represented the people, and he unconsciously ignored the injustice of some of its actions.
Without historical context which sees men not as independent agents but ones shaped by past events and present society, Burke feared that the French Revolution would be ruthless and violent. The Reign of Terror proved him right.
“Ideology, when not tempered with a proper fear of the rights of the Creator, can only lead to the worst elements of human nature being allowed to prosper unchecked—‘all human laws are, properly speaking, only declaratory; they have no power over the substance of original justice.’”
Lady Margaret looked at Selina. “I see you side more with Edmund Burke than Thomas Paine,” she observed.
— Moonstone Obsession
What started as starry-eyed idealism, implemented with the best and most noble intentions in the world, ended up making a mockery of the fundamental tenet of Enlightment philosophy – that man is inherently good and society is corrupt so therefore provide the perfect model and social harmony is sure to follow.
Thomas Paine realised this too late. But at least he realised – many others in history did not.
The same failure to understand human nature, human history and the misguided notion of the perfectability of man through imposition of law led to the worst excesses of the 20th Century – the rise of the Third Reich, the Italian Fascists and Communism.
So let’s give the last word to Edmund Burke:
Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it
And to Split Enz: