May I point out an error in your epigram from Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”?
You quote it as “Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our voices.”
The correct word is VICES, not VOICES. The role of government is keeping us from exercising our bad habits, not taping our mouths shut.
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