If Thomas Paine lived today, he’d definitely have not just a Telegram channel, but a full-blown podcast, YouTube channel, and potentially a significant block of bans from Roskomnadzor. Because Paine disliked the state, monarchs, and anyone who sought to dictate how others should live. But why is he so important for libertarianism? It’s considered that “libertarianism” – a modern term. However, already in the 18th century, Paine championed ideas that would today garner thousands of likes in libertarian social media groups:

– State power must be limited to the maximum extent. The less bureaucracy, the better.
– Natural rights of man are paramount. Freedom of speech, property, and religion – no one has the right to deprive anyone of them.
– Government is “a necessary evil,” therefore, the less there is of it, the less evil there is. It was a remarkably radical view for his time!

But who exactly *is* this Thomas Paine? An English youth from a modest family who initially worked as a tax collector (yes-da, an official), but then realized he was pursuing the wrong path. And once it became clear to him that British authority resembled an interminable television series with poor actors, he swiftly relocated to America and unleashed his considerable energy.

His pamphlet *Common Sense* achieved genuine bestseller status. People simply couldn’t believe someone had finally stated plainly and without political correctness that the king was merely a common man wearing a crown, and monarchy represented outdated nonsense detrimental to people’s freedom.

What else did he become renowned for? Here are some of his key works:

– *Rights of Man*: in this work, he confidently explained that rights belong to every individual from birth, not “granted” by monarchs or officials. This sounds commonplace today, but in 1791 it was a major trend. Incidentally, within this pamphlet, Paine skillfully and ruthlessly dissected the arguments of conservative Edmund Burke who opposed the French Revolution, defending the established order and monarchy. Paine believed Burke simply failed to grasp how genuine freedom operates.

– *The Age of Reason*: here he completely lost control and criticized religion, explaining that reason is more important than blind faith. Consequently, he was, understandably, subject to “cancellation” and accused of all mortal sins, but would such figures ever relent? It was within this work that Paine advocated for the complete separation of church and state and freedom of thought from any religious dogma. For him, religion was a personal matter, not an instrument for the state to manage people.

– *Agrarian Justice*: here lies a controversial point for contemporary libertarians. Paine proposed implementing a small tax on the inheritance of large landowners in order to fund something akin to a basic income for others. Today we would challenge Thomas over a cup of coffee, yet his logic was straightforward: all people are born with rights to Earth’s resources. Thus, an early Georgist libertarian.

So was Paine a pure libertarian? No, of course not. That word appeared much later. But the point wasn’t in labels, but in the spirit that permeated his work: man is more important than the state, freedom above authority, reason stronger than dogma.

What would Paine say to us today? He was probably delighted to see how many of his ideas are now taken for granted. Ironically, he died almost forgotten – there were only six people at his funeral. That’s how it sometimes happens with true revolutionaries: they anticipate their time so much that their contemporaries simply can’t keep up. But his ideas live on, inspiring new generations to disagree with stupidity and authoritarianism.

The main conclusion is this: Paine reminded us that real freedom is not a gift from the state, but our natural state. Today it sounds banal, but perhaps precisely because people like Paine made these ideas popular and understandable. Well, we have left us with Paine’s main rule: “My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.” Good philosophy, right?

Voluntaryist, Bitarch