Kaye delivers Paine tribute on D.C. mall

UW-Green Bay’s Harvey Kaye, the Ben & Joyce Rosenberg Professor of Democracy and Justice Studies and a preeminent scholar of Thomas Paine, delivered an address on the National Mall Saturday (Jan. 28) in Washington, D.C. The gathering promoted by the Florida Veterans for Common Sense celebrated the 275th anniversary of the birth of Revolutionary War era hero Thomas Paine. Kaye said he believes Paine’s legacy and continuing popularity are seen as threats by today’s moneyed interests. He pointed to nearby monuments honoring Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR and MLK and told his audience that none of those men shied away from radical change in pursuit of freedom, equality and democracy. In closing, Kaye said that politicians, corporations and others might disappoint them, “But our task is not to scorn them. Our task is to remind them of who we are. To remind them that we are Americans. To remind them that we are the children and grandchildren of revolutionaries, radicals, and progressives. To remind them, as Thomas Paine reminded us, that ‘We have it in our power to begin the world over again.’” Read more.