GLOBAL SENSE: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Back Matter

AFTERWORD: Self Rule: Our Responsibility, Our Birthright
- by Dr. Vandana Shiva

About Thomas Paine

Who's Who
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My country is the world, and my religion is to do good. - Thomas Paine

AFTERWORD
Self Rule; Our Responsibility, Our Birthright
-- by Dr. Vandana Shiva

• Vandana Shiva talks about Mahatma Gandhi's concept of self rule for the defense of our fundamental freedoms. How does this view of self government affect your own life choices?
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• What is your response to Dr. Shiva's argument for noncooperation with corporation asserting private control over seeds, water, and agriculture (e.g., patents for genetically modified foods?)
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• Hartmann says that of the 81 democratic nations in the world today, all are under assault for authoritarian forces. He specifically names the large corporations. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
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• Freedom is being redefined in our everyday acts of eating and drinking, says Dr. Shiva. Do your habits make global sense? If not, what can you start doing differently?
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• Gandhi's call for peaceful noncooperation with British rule lead to the liberation of India from colonial occupation. What would happen if we similarly practice peaceful noncooperation with government policies that harm the planet or take away our civil rights? What would be the impact of such a mass movement?

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The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection. - Thomas Paine

About Thomas Paine

. . Please Read the Short Biography at
. . http://media-visions.com/tompaine.html

• Thomas Paine was the son of a stay maker in the port town of Thetford, England, and he apprenticed into his father's trade. The Paines made the thick ropes used to make ships stay in place when docked. Biographers wrongly assert he made stays for women's corsets. What other misinformation about Paine abounds?
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• What were the personal and cultural forces that caused Paine to embrace the ideas and ideals of the 18th century Enlightenment? Discuss why he immigrated to America at age 37. Have you ever relocated and started over? Talk about your experiences and the life lessons you learned.
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• Discuss Paine's life in Philadelphia before he published Common Sense. How did his life change after the publication radically shifted public opinion in favor of independence? Read about Paine's activities during and after the Revolutionary War. What do you sense were his thoughts and feelings during that period?
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• Study Paine's adventures in France as the celebrated author of The Rights of Man, then read about his imprisonment during the Reign of Terror when he began writing The Age of Reason. How did such experiences affect his views of himself and the world? How would you have been affected?
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• Study the miscommunication involving Jefferson's preface for The Age of Reason that caused Paine to be vilified in the United States. How was Paine a victim of the repressive atmosphere fomented in America by the Alien and Sedition Acts passed by John Adams? Did Paine deserve to die in obscurity and poverty?
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• Why is Thomas Paine more popular today than ever? Why do some people still fear his liberating ideas?

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I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it. - Voltaire

Who's Who
Quoted Enlightenment Thinkers

• Within your class or study group, assign a different quoted writer to each person. Present an oral report about each quoted writer's contributions to political or social theory, history and world culture.
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• Compare and contrast the ideas of these quoted writers? How did the women differ from the men? How did the Americans differ from the British or the French? What accounts for these differences?
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• Pick one or two favorites among the quoted writers, and research other quotes by them that inspire you? How do these quotes reveal the mind and heart and spirit of these men and women?
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  QUOTES by writers from the Enlightenment open each chapter in Global Sense. Below are their names with biographical notes. For more information, go to any library or search the Web.

  Adams, Abigail (1744-1818) -- Chapter 7
  > America letter writer; wife of second U.S. President, John Adams.

  Burke, Edmund (1729-1797) -- Chapters 4, 13
  > British statesman and political philosopher; born in Ireland.

  Diderot, Denis (1713-84) -- Chapter 18
  > French writer and philosopher; Enlightenment encyclopedia publisher.

  Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790) -- Chapters 5, 14, 23
  > American printer, writer, scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, statesman.

  Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826) -- Chapters 6, 24
  > American statesman, architect, writer; third U.S. President.

  Locke, John (1632-1704) -- Chapters 1, 19
  > English political philosopher; visionary democracy advocate.

  Montagu, Mary Wortley (1689-1762) -- Chapter 20
  > English writer and feminist, keen observer of the aristocracy.

  Rousseau, Jean Jacques (1712-1778) -- Chapters 10, 17
  > French philosopher, author, political theorist, and composer.

  Smith, Adam (1723-1790) -- Chapter 16
  > Scottish economist and moral philosopher; visualized capitalism.

  Voltaire -- François Marie Arouet (1694-1778) -- Chapters 8, 12
  > French writer and playwright; a luminary of the Enlightenment.

  Warren, Mercy Otis (1728-1814) -- Chapters 3, 15
  > American Revolutionary War historian, political critic, poet.

  Washington, George (1732-1799) -- Chapters 2, 11, 22
  > American Revolutionary War general; first U.S. President.

  Wheatley, Phillis (c.1753-1784) -- Chapter 21
  > American poet, Latin and Greek translator; a slave born in Africa.

  Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759-1797) -- Chapter 9
  > English writer and dissident feminist; mother of author Mary Shelly.

Global Sense by Judah Freed
Awakening our Power for Democracy and World Peace
> CLICK ON ANY CHAPTER FOR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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FOREWORD
What Would Paine Write?
- by Thom Hartmann

PREFACE
Safety and Liberty
- by David Wann

INTRODUCTION
Why Update Common Sense?
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PART I - Mindful Self Rule
and Modern Republics

. 1. Personal Democracy

. 2. Origin and Rise of Government

. 3. Constitutional Republics

. 4. A House Divided Against Itself

. 5. Clear and Present Dangers

. 6. Genuine Democracy

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PART II - Male Rule and
Authority Addiction

. 7. The Divine Right of Kings

. 8. Hereditary Succession

. 9. Inherited Wealth

. 10. Authority Addiction

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PART III - Thoughts on
the State of World Affairs
. 11. From Argument to Arms

. 12. Sacrifices to Superstition

. 13. The Seat of Wretchedness

. 14. Conquering the World

. 15. The Tyrants' Last Stand

. 16. Hints for Global Democracy

. 17. A Government of Our Own

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PART IV - Our Ability for
Democracy and World Peace
. 18. Common Global Sense

. 19. Global Sense Counts

. 20. The Price of Peace

. 21. Practical Idealism

. 22. Morality, Spirituality, Politics

. 23. Seed Time of Good Habits

. 24. Begin the World Anew

AFTERWORD
Self Rule:
Our Responsibility, Our Birthright
- by Dr. Vandana Shiva

About Thomas Paine
Who's Who