Should the poor and the old receive public support?

1. WHAT HE SAID (the record)

Record ledger

• BELIEF (undated): Thomas Paine believed that the poor should be secured from despotism and that what each man has is his own. He argued that the principle of equal justice in a republic protects the poor from both despotic rulers and the despotism of numbers, implying a system that values individual rights and fairness. "the security to the rich and the consolation to the poor is, that what each man has is his own; that no despotic sovereign can take it from him, and that the common cementing principle which holds all the parts of a republic together, secures him likewise from the despotism of numbers" [1]
• BELIEF (undated): Thomas Paine believed that the poor and the old should receive public support, as he argued that they are generally composed of large families of children and old people past their labor, and that providing for these two classes would address the core of the issue. "It is easily seen, that the poor are generally composed of large families of children, and old people past their labour. If these two classes are provided for, the remedy will so far reach to the full extent of the case" [2]
• BELIEF (undated): Thomas Paine believed that the poor should receive public support, as he argued that the poor-rates are a direct tax and a consequence of excessive burden of taxes, which disables the laboring man from providing for his family. He also pointed out that when taxes were low, the poor were able to maintain themselves without such rates. "In the present state of things a laboring man, with a wife or two or three children, does not pay less than between seven and eight pounds a year in taxes... he is consequently disabled from providing for a family, especially, if himself, or any of them, are afflicted with sickness." [3]
• BELIEF (undated): Thomas Paine believed that the poor, the aged, and others in need should receive public support. He argued that provisions should be made for the poor, for the education of children, the support of the aged, and the disbanded part of the army and navy. "after paying the interest, abolishing the tax on houses and windows, the commutation tax, and the poor-rates; and making all the provisions for the poor, for the education of children, the support of the aged, the disbanded part of the army and navy, and encreasing the pay of the remainder" [4]
• BELIEF (undated): Thomas Paine believed that the poor and the old should receive public support, as he argued that providing financial relief to poor families and securing annual sums for distressed persons aged fifty and above was a good thing. "Will he say, that to provide against the misfortunes to which all human life is subject, by securing six pounds annually for all poor, distressed, and reduced persons of the age of fifty and until sixty, and of ten pounds annually after sixty, is not a good thing?" [5]
• BELIEF (1792-06-06): Thomas Paine believed the poor and the old should receive public support, arguing for the abolition of poor-rates and the remittance of four million pounds from surplus taxes to the poor, to be paid in money according to family size and age. [6]
• BELIEF (1792-06-30): Thomas Paine believed the poor and the old should receive public support. He argued for providing money to the poor for the education and upbringing of their children and for giving annual allowances to poor persons, decayed tradesmen, and others from the age of fifty until sixty, and ten pounds per annum after sixty, funded by surplus taxes. "I have shewn in that work, that the taxes may be reduced at least six millions, and even then the expences of Government in England would be twenty times greater than they are in the country I have already spoken of. That taxes may be entirely taken off from the poor, by remitting to them in money at the rate of between three and four pounds per head per annum, for the education and bringing up of the children of the poor families... and ten pounds per annum from after sixty." [7]
• BELIEF (undated): Thomas Paine believed that public succours are a sacred debt of society, and that it is for the law to determine their extent and application. This shows that he supported the idea that the poor and the old should receive public support. (key quote above) [8]
• BELIEF (undated): Thomas Paine believed that no man ought to make a living by religion, and that priests should not extract money from the poor instead of contributing to their relief. He argued that true religion should not be associated with extracting money from the poor, implying that the poor should be supported rather than exploited. "By devices of this kind true religion has been banished; and such means have been found out to extract money even from the pockets of the poor, instead of contributing to their relief." [9]
• BELIEF (undated): Thomas Paine believed that the poor and the old should receive public support. He argued for the 'comfortable support of the aged and decayed persons of both sexes' as part of a broader plan to benefit the moral, civil, and political condition of mankind. "it abounds with principles of government that are uncontrovertible—with arguments which every reader will feel, are unanswerable—with plans ... for the comfortable support of the aged and decayed persons of both sexes" [10]

What cuts against it

• ACTION (undated): The editor's note reports that Thomas Paine proposed an arrangement for public support of the poor and the old, but this is an editorial observation and not a direct statement from Paine himself. "This arrangement amounts to the same sum as stated in p. 489, including the 250,000l, for education; but it provides (including the aged people) for four hundred and four thousand families, which is almost one third of all the families in England." [11]

• ACTION (undated): The editor's note reports that Thomas Paine wrote about the issue of public support for the poor, stating that 'Humanity dictates a provision for the poor.' However, this is an editorial fact and not a direct statement from Paine himself. "Humanity dictates a provision for the poor;" [12]

2. HOW IT APPLIES (reasoning; inference is marked)

1. Thomas Paine believed that the poor and the old should receive public support, as he argued that they are generally composed of large families of children and old people past their labor, and that providing for these two classes would address the core of the issue. [2]

2. He proposed specific financial relief measures, such as paying four pounds a year for every child under fourteen years of age to poor families and securing annual sums for distressed persons aged fifty and above. [13] [6]

3. Paine also argued that the poor-rates are a direct tax and a consequence of excessive burden of taxes, which disables the laboring man from providing for his family. [3]

4. He believed that public succours are a sacred debt of society, and that it is for the law to determine their extent and application. [8]

5. Paine's belief in the principle of equal justice in a republic implies a system that values individual rights and fairness, which supports the idea of public support for the poor and the old. [1] (inference)

3. HIS TAKE

Record coverage: DIRECT

Thomas Paine directly addressed the question of whether the poor and the old should receive public support. He argued for specific financial relief measures and the principle of equal justice in a republic.

Extrapolation: Thomas Paine believed that the poor and the old should receive public support through specific financial relief measures and the principle of equal justice in a republic.

Competing readings: None of the record directly contradicts his belief in public support for the poor and the old.

Confidence: High, as the record directly addresses the question and provides specific arguments and measures.