# Economic Justice and Agrarian Reform in Essays

> Theme guide for Essays by Thomas Paine.

Paine addresses the evils of poverty created by civilization, proposing a system of ground-rent and public funds to compensate for the loss of natural property, ensuring that the condition of the poor is not worse than in a natural state.

## Where it surfaces

- [Appendix](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/appendix): Paine proposes using the sale of back lands to sink public debt and support government expenses, linking economic policy to independence.
- [The Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/the-decline-and-fall-of-the-english-system-of-finance): Paine argues that the funding system oppresses the present generation by forcing them to pay for past debts, and contrasts it with nature's principle of succession.
- [Agrarian Justice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/agrarian-justice): Paine proposes a system of ground-rent to redistribute wealth from landowners to the landless, ensuring a basic level of economic security for all.
- [Editor’s Introduction](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/editor-s-introduction): Paine's pamphlet proposes taxing inheritances of land to address poverty, contrasting with Babeuf's socialist agrarian law.
- [Author's Inscription](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/author-s-inscription): The essay focuses on equality of natural property and the need to address economic disparities through land rights.
- [Author's English Preface](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/author-s-english-preface): Paine directly challenges the notion that God ordained poverty and wealth, arguing for equal inheritance of the earth.
- [Agrarian Justice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/agrarian-justice): Paine argues that landed property has dispossessed the majority of their natural inheritance and proposes a ground-rent and inheritance tax to remedy this injustice.
- [Means by Which the Fund Is to Be Created](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/means-by-which-the-fund-is-to-be-created): Paine proposes a fund to compensate for the loss of natural inheritance due to landed property, aiming to prevent poverty and redistribute resources through a progressive inheritance tax.
- [Means for Carrying the Proposed Plan Into Execution, and to Render It at the Same Time Conducive to the Public Interest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/means-for-carrying-the-proposed-plan-into-execution-and-to-render-it-at-the-same-time-conducive-to-the-public-interest): Paine's plan for a 10% inheritance tax to fund pensions and youth compensations aims to redistribute wealth and support the public good.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/themes/economic_justice_and_agrarian_reform
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/themes