Question

What argument does the author counter in this excerpt from Thomas Paine's Common Sense? I have heard it asserted by some, that as America has flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same effect. Nothing can be more fallacious than this kind of argument. We may as well assert that because a child has thrived upon milk, that it is never to have meat, or that the first twenty years of our lives is to become a precedent for the next twenty.

Answer 1

The argument that the author is countering in the excerpt given above is the argument that says that America needs to be  politically connected to Great Britain in order to ensure that the nation flourish in the future just as it had happen in the time past. 
The author totally disagree with this argument  and makes it clear that America does not need to associate with the Great Britain just because they want to secure their future.

Answer 2

Answer:

He shows that while America earlier flourished because of Britain, it faces a bleak future if British rule continues.

Explanation:

its the plato answer