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.
-- Thomas Paine "Common Sense" February 14, 1776. in
Thomas Paine, Collected Writings New York: Library of
American, 1995, p. 6.