The Rights and Capacity of the People to Judge of Government Of all the sciences that I know in the world, that of government concerns us most, and is the easiest to be known, and yet is the least understood. Most of those who manage it would make the lower world believe that there is I know not what difficulty and mystery in it, far above vulgar understandings; which proceeding of theirs is direct craft and imposture: Every ploughman knows a good government from a bad one, from the effects of it: he knows whether the fruits of his labour be his own, and whether he enjoy them in peace and security: And if he do not know the principles of government, it is for want of thinking and enquiry, for they lie open to common sense; but people are generally taught not to think of them at all, or to think wrong of them. The Rights and Capacity of the People to Judge of Government (No. 38, Saturday, July 22, 1721; by Thomas Gordon) CATO'S LETTERS Cato’s letters could be found on the shelves of over 40% of the homes during the American revolution. This work was praised by Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. It has been noted by historians that Cato’s Letters were more influential on the colonies than Locke’s Civil Government. The works of John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon list among the top works cited by the Founding Generation. This largely forgotten work is essential for understanding founding thought. http://www.catosletters.com/ #politics #CATO #philosophy