“When an objection cannot be made formidable, there is some policy in trying to make it frightful; and to substitute the yell and the war-whoop, in the place of reason, argument and good order.”
No political party is immune from the tendency of raising the spectre of fear when its policies are questioned, and most notably when its power is challenged - but can it be taken too far, to the detriment of the national interest?
There is no doubt that we live in dangerous times. It is all too easy to simply live in fear and thus isolate from new ideas and alternative views. During his time, as the new republic was still finding its way in the world, debate was often rancorous and bitter. If he were to look out on the current political landscape, what would Tom Paine think now of the state of American Democracy?
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