Thomas Paine Quote Reaction

When America first became an independent nation, the highest of hopes were set for a country that stood out from the rest of the world; a country where everyone was equal, despite their origins, languages, and customs. Famous patron to American independence, Thomas Paine, was a strong supporter of America fighting the odds and standing as a united nation. During Paine’s time, the idea wasn’t so far fetched, but in accords to present day, his belief of America as a Utopia couldn’t be more inaccurate. Instead of the “cordial unison” Paine had mentioned, America is forced further and further apart due to the growing issue of racism, the substantial gap between economic classes of wealth, and the ever-increasing taxes that citizens must pay. All of these issues only further disprove Paine’s statement about America. One of the points of Thomas Paine’s statement that is the very false today is the fact that, “the poor are not oppressed and the rich are not privileged.” In this country today, it is almost the complete opposite. The gap between the rich and the poor has never been greater. Because the upper classes have so much money, they continue to make more and more regularly while the lower classes remain at the same financial standpoint, thus driving the two classes away from each other even more. The middle class is not even in the middle of the two, being more toward the poor side. Since there is such a wide gap, it is only realistic to say that although not publicly oppressed, the poor are hindered in their ability to contribute to the country. While they can vote, the extremely rich people can actually run for president, and heavily influence elections with the lots of money that they have. This country revolves around money and it’s obvious that the poor are oppressed without it while the rich have more power because of their money, which completely disproves Paine’s theory of harmony between the two social classes. Probably the farthest we are in terms of Paine’s prediction is in terms of equality amongst all ethnic groups. Racism is an ongoing problem that continues to escalate more and more over time. When people thought that America would be able to overcome the disbeliefs and that the people could coexist without their races interfering, they were dead wrong. Sectionalism between ethnicities is a huge issue. Although we have overcome extreme issues such as African American slavery, we still have racist groups that exist today such as the KKK that refuse to have any interaction with those of another race. As well as these groups, people across the nation group together with others of the same religion instead which creates even more sectionalism between American citizens. Violence, sectionalism between ethnic groups, and racism are all major reasons why the American