SOCIETY has long been ruled by a worldview that makes sense of life by assuming a king must govern us. Now we’re evolving a new view of life. Due to the emergence of “global thinking,” Paine’s 18th century vision of a free society makes sense in our 21st century.

To understand why Common Sense made sense at the dawn of the United States, and why it still applies to us today, put yourself in the place of those reading Thomas Paine’s essay in 1776.

The colonists’ rights as citizens under the English Constitution had been revoked by “mad” King George III, who probably suffered from variegate porphyria. Parliament only made matters worse with the Stamp Act, Tea Act, and other “intolerable acts.” As Thom Hartmann chronicled in Unequal Protection, Americans hurt by tyranny united behind the protest, “No taxation without representation.” The people wanted a fair say in making the laws governing their lives.

Massachusetts rebelled in early 1775, so English ships blockaded Boston Harbor. When British soldiers killed American colonists at nearby Lexington on April 19, this “massacre” confused and terrified Americans in all of the colonies. They likely felt much like modern Americans felt in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Most colonial Americans expected to reconcile with England and stay under the crown, but a faction wanted to break away. Members of secret “committees of correspondence” wrote letters advocating independency for the continent. They were like the writers on Internet blogs and listservs today urging democracy and world peace. Then as now, the friends of liberty struggled to make their case.

Just as Americans learned that King George III had declared all the colonies in rebellion, out of nowhere on January 10, 1776, appeared a pamphlet entitled, Common Sense. The public impact was electric. Historians affirm this was the right message at the right time.

Thomas Paine’s four-part essay defined the nature of government, rejected monarchy and hereditary succession, told why reconciliation with the king would be irrational, and showed how Americans could win a rebellion against Britain. The essay further urged a declaration of independence and offered a plan for writing a national constitution. As a truly free country founded on democracy, Paine wrote, America would become a beacon of hope for the world.

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Excerpted and edited from GLOBAL SENSE: Awakening Your Personal Power for Democracy and World Peace (an update of Common Sense) by Judah Freed. (c) 2006 by Judah Freed.