Thomas Paine’s Common Sense with Life Extension Correlations
A movement for independence in North America was a catalyst before the Revolutionary War. Common Sense by political activist and philosopher Thomas Paine became a key part of the movement. In this paper, I will review some of the points and make comparisons to the movement for life extension indefinitely.
There was no consensus among the 13 American colonies on how to resolve their dispute with Great Britain. Thomas Paine said, \”The mind is left to random and they follow whatever fancy or opinion begins.\” Common Sense, however, fixed independence as the goal, instead of reconciliation with tyranny in the minds of enough people.
True freedom means more than being able to sail open seas, or to be free from the authority and control of kings. It is about having access to every constructive opportunity, which may be infinite, but to which still exist innumerable obstacles. Everyday, we are asked if we want to work harder to remove more barriers from our lives.
Over the centuries and decades, movements have broken many ties. In many countries, the world that was once overrun by crushing suppressions has improved. Paine’s \”fixed object\” is what we need to open up the frontiers for industrialized peoples’ next most pressing freedom. The object is the time. Walls of predetermined lifespans need to be lowered. The time is ripe to tackle a 125-year death sentence for everyone. Biotechnology is a tool that allows us to engineer biology in many different ways. We are getting better and faster at it as we continue to develop. If we use them, biological mastery is within reach.
Paine wrote: \”O you that love humanity! Stand up, ye who dare to oppose not only tyranny but also the tyrant! The old world has been overrun by oppression. The freedom has been pursued all over the world. Asia and Africa have expelled her for a long time. Europe treats her as if she were a stranger and England has given her stern warnings to leave. O! In this style, I would say, \”O you who love life!\” Stand up, ye who dare to oppose not just the symptoms, but also the root causes of death. Death is everywhere. The hunt for life has been going on all over the world. Tradition and religion expelled her for a long time. Politics regarded her as a stranger and trend setters warned her to leave. O! \”Receive the fugitive and prepare an asylum in time for this survivor blood that fights through us.\”
How much injustice should we tolerate? How much freedom can we tolerate? There are some injuries that nature will never forgive. She would cease to exist if she did. […] Robbers and murderers would often go unpunished if not for the injuries that our tempers cause. We should endure these misfortunes if we have to and act against them if we can.
It is time to extend life because we have the tools and the insights to do so. Also, as Paine said, \”When planning for the future, we should remember that virtue does not run in families.\” You understand that people deserve to live and you know the importance of doing this now. But our grandchildren may not. The human race cannot afford to leave the decision-making up to the future. I might believe that future generations will be about as good as we are, but I am not a prophecy. Dark times often come on their own timetable.
This is our responsibility. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence after Common Sense. It might look like this:
Declaration of Independence Against Death
This truth is self-evident to us: that all humans are equal and that life has given them certain inalienable rights. The most important of these is the right to life, i.e., freedom from suffering injustices such as a fixed lifespan. Science is used to secure this right. Its power comes from its purest form, the pursuit of answers. This will help lift the veil of ignorance which holds us back from freedom. It is the right and duty of the people, whenever anything threatens this goal, to change or abolish it and institute new practices based on principles and organization.
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