The degree to which the United States “lives up” to Paine’s description in “The Rights of Man” is a matter of perspective. Take, for instance, Paine’s distinction between “natural rights,” or freedom of thought and the freedom to act in one’s self interests, and “civil rights,” or rights that are part of belonging to a society. Paine has it that “every civil right” grows from a natural right, and that civil rights themselves are those natural rights which are “defective in the individual in point of power” (Paine’s example is the natural right of an individual to “judge his own cause” — while this may be so, it is only through the civil institution of the court that one can find a remedy). Does America live up to this model?

The dispute between the personal and collective good continues to shape our political landscape, so in that sense we are still grappling with the ideas Paine articulated. On the one hand, it can be argued that “the American dream” of success through personal initiative and hard work is an expression of Paine’s notion of ”natural rights” and the purpose of government to enable such freedom. On the other, it can be argued that “civil rights” as they currently exist in the U.S. are a perversion of Paine’s thought, in that much legislation is purposely designed to benefit the wealthy instead of society as a whole. It is also clear that what some people deem a “natural right” others see as a threat to the greater good (witness the recent controversy over the “right” to own assault weapons).

America today is clearly very different from what Paine knew when he wrote “Rights of Man.” The things that Paine hated about the old order in France—the predation of the rich on the poor, the use of government power to maintain the social order—have come to pass in the U.S. as well. How we got here, however, is the result of a centuries-long working out of the problems of the individual rights/greater good dichotomy Paine discusses, so in that sense perhaps we have been faithful to his vision.

Does Paine's characterization of America in Rights of Man still hold true today?

Thomas Paine saw America as a battleground in which to fight for his political philosophy—namely, that all men (yes, he was a chauvinist, like most writers of his time) were born with certain unalienable rights. A government-issued charter could not grant a man these rights; it could only seek to take these rights away. These are laid out in Rights of Man as a right to liberty, property, security, and the resistance of oppression. Rights of Man was a direct commentary on the French revolution as well as the claims of the British crown to possess an inherited or dynastic right to rule. However, coupled with Common Sense and his other published works, Rights of Man was a fundamental expression of the founding philosophy of America. Its sentiments were echoed in the Declaration of Independence, namely via the self-evident "truths."

Largely, America continues to uphold the protection of these basic rights. State leadership is not an inherited trait; it can only be earned through winning elections. Even those positions held for life (i.e. the Justices) do not pass down the title to their children. 

Property continues to be protected in our civil court systems, even if the process has its flaws. Still, any American that deems their property wrongfully destroyed or stolen can file a lawsuit and attempt to win it back through due legal process. 

Security also is supposed to be provided for all indiscriminately. It is illegal for any law officer to deny protection to an American citizen, regardless of race, class, faith, or creed. 

Of course, every one of these statements must come with a disclaimer. For dynastic rule does exist in our government (look at the Clintons and the Bushes), and the overwhelming majority of our politicians are heterosexual Christian males born into privileged white families. It is undeniably easier for privileged Americans to win legal battles, just as it is more likely that they will be protected by the law if they are in danger. 

And so we keep getting closer to Paine's vision for America—and yet, some old habits just seem to die hard.