Common Sense

America was founded in rebellion against kings. So why are so many willing to accept one now? Inspired by Thomas Paine’s revolutionary masterpiece, Common Sense: No Kings in America is an unapologetic warning against authoritarian drift in today’s America. Drawing from dozens of letters written to elected officials, Bernard Patten (a physician, veteran, educator, and lifelong defender of democratic ideals) and psychologist Vicki Heck present a passionate critique of political complacency, institutional cowardice, and the growing normalization of executive overreach. Part manifesto, part documentary record, part civic challenge, this modern pamphlet asks the question too many people would rather avoid: If freedom is being eroded, what are you prepared to do about it? Thomas Paine once helped Americans reject kingship. This book asks whether that lesson has been forgotten. The original Common Sense helped ignite a revolution by persuading ordinary Americans that they did not need a king. Nearly 250 years later, the American people are ready to revive that same urgent question for a new generation.