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Bear in mind that the French Revolution began as something very different than what it became. Thomas Paine, arguably the most libertarian of any of the foundi
by dfranke 19y ago
Bear in mind that the French Revolution began as something very different than what it became. Thomas Paine, arguably the most libertarian of any of the founding fathers, was one of the French Revolution's most ardent American supporters in its early days. After the revolution got hijacked by the Jacobins, Paine ended up in a French prison.
If you'd like, substitute Locke for Jefferson.
- curi 19y agoThomas Paine I know about. I read his book about the French Revolution -- the reply to Burke. It's really bad stuff. He doesn't understand Burke at all, makes bad arguments carelessly, and throws in lots of insults. (I realize I'm being insulting. Besides the low quality thinking he made excuses for massive bloodshed as well as glorifying some of it. And I have detailed notes with which I could back this up.)
- dfranke 19y agoInteresting. If you sympathize with Burke then I have no idea where to place you. He's pretty much universally reviled by every modern school of thought that I'm familiar with. Anyhow, we're quickly veering away from the topic and toward the right margin. We should probably take this to email. My email address is on the page linked in my profile.