Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1467IR // #c1467Synthesis

For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have a right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others for ever

— In our words · Source: Common Sense (Thomas Paine)

[Use when]

A founder wants his child guaranteed the top job. Put the succession rule to a vote of the people who must live under it.

[Why it matters]

A founder's merit dies with the founder. Locking in his heirs taxes people who never consented, including people not yet born.

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