yeah no doubt, he was popular, mostly because of great depression social programs and war ... but he also expanded executive power and ultimately led us on a path to the welfare state status we're at today.
It is remarkable that the totally ahistorical narrative of "FDR ruined the US (economy), Reagan saved it" is still popular outside of the elite whom it benefits. Propaganda works.
"Welfare queen" stereotypes are still alive and well on the Right, despite there NEVER BEING A WELFARE QUEEN. It was a complete fabrication. Maybe they haven't had a great grip on reality for quite some time, or at least a willingness to ignore it.
I wasn't aware of this paper, thank you for sharing. Paine is an interesting character and mused on alot of subjects. Way more utopian in his ideas compared to his peers at the time. Obsessed with Revolution. Wouldn't say economics was his strength.
On the contrary, it seems to me that his reasoning about taxation - that it is unjust to coerce via force from the living and thus infinitely preferable to collect from the dead since they no longer need it, whereas the elderly and young do - to be unmatched in halls of power to this day.
And its not unjust for the state to seize inheritance in the name of equity? I think there are limits ... I'd like to give my children my wealth when I pass, but I am a modest person, not Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos. We pay tax on our income, things we buy, our property, our investments, etc - now we must fork over what is left to the state to divvy out? There's a reason only 6 people attended Paine's funeral - he was advocating for a Peoples Monarchy.
Mr. Paine answers all your concerns in his wonderfully well thought-out pamphlet. If more people read it, the world would be a better place. Here's the full text: http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/Paine1795.pdf
> ultimately led us on a path to the welfare state status we're at today
That's one way of looking at it. Another way would be: he made enough basic concessions to the working class to prevent an outright socialist revolution. We weren't very far from it at that point in history.
The welfare state is a safeguard. Every modern state has social supports, just like every modern road system has traffic control devices and other safety measures. The alternative, as we've seen repeatedly, is to allow unchecked profit motive to grind the masses down to the point that they start erecting guillotines.
