Sovereignty

Sovereignty at the time of the original Tea Party meant a chief of state in a monarchy; a king or queen; monarch, and that is still the number one dictionary definition. But to a nation struggling to define itself and throw out a monarch which had chartered companies which then could impose taxes upon them and their tea, a new intellectual immigrant from England was to insist upon what is today the third or forth definition, complete independence and self government.

A landless, brillant thinker and writer, Thomas Paine was recruited as an immigrant by Benjamin Franklin, and would soon be upping the ante on the semantics of democracy in our forming nation. It is no wonder that he is not brandished by the present day Tea Party; he was, for one thing, a deist, knew how important it would be not to have the nation framed in by Christian, Biblical belief.

His belief was that "Sovereignty as a matter of right, appertains to the Nation only, and not to any individual; and a Nation has at all times an inherent indefeasible right to abolish any form of Government it finds inconvenient, and establish such as accords with its interest, disposition, and happiness." (from Paine's "Rights of Man"). Wouldn't he be surprised today when our corporations are considered individuals under the law, and that they seem to be today's sovereigns, represented by the 1% in the fashion of the companies chartered by the kings and queens of earlier times? It seems that today's Tea Party might pick up the writings of Thomas Paine with some benefit, albeit inconvenient and difficult for their beliefs.