i think historical internal squabbles within the anglo-american empire have their place in understanding how the center of empires can shift without the character of the empire changing. that being said, i think i'm going to have a hard time reading this paine thing without rolling my eyes.

i mean, he's a liberal, right. but he's one of those early naive liberals that actually believed in the inherent goodness of humans, and so he's no doubt going to say a lot of things that are going to appeal to the communist in me, even while knowing he's going to ruin it all with a bunch of out to lunch economics. you want to go along with the dream, but your brain knows the idea is doomed from the start. it's still the beginning of a discussion.

so, i'm kind of not sure how i feel about just shredding this to pieces, but i kind of expect he's going to piss me off enough that i'll have to.

"it seeks then in russia the enemy it has lost in france, and appears to say to the world, or to say to itself: if no one will have the complaisance to become my enemy, i shall no longer have any occasion for navy or armies, and shall be forced to diminish my taxes. ... unless i make an enemy of russia, the harvest of wars will be terminated." - thomas paine, 1792