Criticism on Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"

Thomas Paine's writing was another one that I was kind of confused on while reading it at first. I thought that it was another one of those writings, that you had to read the sentence over and over to get the real meaning. So, lets just say that it took me awhile to get the meaning of most of his writing. However, when I did comprehend the meanings of everything and saw what he had to say, I actually kind of liked some of his thoughts.
I realized from the start, that it seemed to me that the theme was all about America and it's government. I kind of liked how it started off and Thomas said, "Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher". (Paine) I think this really kind of sums up everything that he is about to say in his writing. From my understandings, it does not seem to me that he thinks too highly of the government. He kind of bashes it right from the start, but then again he is just saying the facts. He is pretty much saying how government is just here because of the mistakes we have made. Government keeps building after it realizes the more laws that there needs to be. I also liked how he said that society is trying to make us so happy, but then we have the government that kind of shuts us down. I think that is a good thing though, because lately society is really getting carried away and we are getting away with a lot more than we really should be getting away with. I think that it is good that the government has some control over things, and sometimes I think that they need to take even more control.
The next thing that I liked that Paine had to say was "Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil in its worst state an intolerable one". (Paine) I think this goes back to the point that I said where society gets a little carried away sometimes. I like how he notes that society is a blessing, but it is good that you have the government that steps in at some points. I think that the society has and is getting to the point that is too much, and worried about the looks on the outside, and no- one really focuses on the inside as much. Everyone usually always listens to society, and that does not usually always lead you in the right directions. I think that it focuses more on money and how much we can get, no moderation, and lately no respect for ourselves. I am glad that we have governments that can give us rules, and when someone does something wrong they can get in trouble.
I learned a lot from reading Paine's writing. I thought it was kind of cool to see his view on that. I always think it is neat when someone really stands up and says what they think and believe, becasue usually it just takes one and a lot of people stand up with him. I think that I agreed with a lot that he had to say.

Paine, Thomas. Common Sense. Printed by W. and T. Bradford, Philadelphia, 1791. accessed October 17, 2010.