Welcome to the Discussion Page for Common Sense by Thomas Paine, one of our five options to read for August 2026. To learn more about the club, where to get your books and more, go to the official book club launch page. Learn about the rules for commenting, and get the links to the discussion pages for the other titles on this month’s Book Club Hub.
Short Attention Span Shelf selection
”Common Sense” by Thomas Paine
(free digitally via this link)
When Thomas Paine wrote this little pamphlet, the reaction was nothing less than explosive. Common Sense was THE political manifesto of 1776.
My Thoughts and Discussion Kickoff
Published anonymously on January 10 that year, it sped through the colonies with the fervor of a viral TikTok on Paul Revere’s horse. Copies quickly passed from person to person. The ideas were debated in newspapers, read aloud in taverns and dissected at gatherings ranging from sewing circles to barbershops to funeral wakes.
Why? Because Paine did something radical, my friends. He treated ordinary people like they could actually think for themselves. His words were not meant for the educated elite, the presumed ruling class. He was speaking to farmers, blacksmiths, dockworkers, millers, shopkeepers, laborers, all manner of people – including women -- who’d never been told their opinion mattered.
His point wasn’t that citizens had a right to question their democracy, but a responsibility to question the whole damn thing.
That’s still the most dangerous idea in America.
So as you’re reading it, what thoughts do his words stir up? How do his arguments land in 2026, and how do they apply?
MM
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Learn about the rules for commenting, and get the links to the discussion pages for the other titles on this month’s Book Club Hub.