Thomas Paine's 'Agrarian Justice' Chapbook

Thomas Paine—America’s original political folk hero & cultural revolutionary—wrote Agrarian Justice in the face of a growing fascist takeover in the country in which he was living, and it would prove to be his last major work. Although not regarded as such when it was first published in 1797, this little pamphlet was so far ahead of its time, that about a hundred years would have to pass before its importance was recognized.

In Agrarian Justice, Paine proposed programs such as social security, a progressive tax on inheritance, land value tax, disability pensions, universal suffrage, and the concept of a living wage—measures that were either key to western democracies doubling down on their commitments in the 20th century, or could be essential to safeguarding their existence in the 21st.