It's difficult to translate every single historical political position into modern terms, but he had solid political standards that he acted on. He easily could have been a wealthy spin doctor for bourgeois Americans, but he was sidelined right after the revolution for sticking to his principles and advocating for a more radical freedom than slaveowners were willing to impart.
When we call people libertarians, we're saying that they only care about freedom for themselves to do whatever they want, especially at the expense of others. When I say that Paine was a radlib, I mean he was thoroughly anti-monarchy and anti-slavery.
Wasn't he basically a Libertarian?
It's difficult to translate every single historical political position into modern terms, but he had solid political standards that he acted on. He easily could have been a wealthy spin doctor for bourgeois Americans, but he was sidelined right after the revolution for sticking to his principles and advocating for a more radical freedom than slaveowners were willing to impart.
When we call people libertarians, we're saying that they only care about freedom for themselves to do whatever they want, especially at the expense of others. When I say that Paine was a radlib, I mean he was thoroughly anti-monarchy and anti-slavery.