Dr. Johnny Teague Thomas Paine Returns: Common Sense for a Nation in Crisis

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What Would Thomas Paine Say If He Walked into Lewes Today?

What would Thomas Paine the great pamphleteer of Common Sense and one-time resident of Lewes make of the modern world if he returned now?

In an age of rising debt, deepening mistrust in institutions, political polarisation, social fragmentation and a pervasive sense of drift, Dr Johnny Teague argues that Western democracies face a crisis not just of policy, but of civic confidence and moral direction. Paines questions, he suggests, have never been more urgent.

Drawing on his new work Thomas Paine Returns with Common Sense, Teague explores how Paine writing for ordinary citizens, not elites challenged complacency, demanded accountability, and insisted that liberty must rest on responsibility, restraint and civic virtue. Alongside Paine, he revisits the wider Enlightenment tradition that shaped constitutional thinking on both sides of the Atlantic, asking what has endured and what has been forgotten.
Teague proposes that renewal does not lie in novelty alone, but in recovery: a return to first principles. Just as an athlete revisits fundamentals to regain form, societies too must sometimes relearn the basics constitutional limits, shared civic norms, and moral seriousness if they are to thrive.

Set against Lewes own radical history and tradition of dissent, this talk invites the audience to ask whether common sense has been lost in the noise of modern politics and whether reclaiming it might offer a path towards renewal.

Expect a lively, historically grounded talk rich in quotation, sharp questions and contemporary relevance.

Dr Johnny Teague is an historian, author and former nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives. He has a background in constitutional history, political thought and religious culture. He holds five university degrees, including two masters degrees and a doctorate, and is also a patented inventor. He writes regularly for a range of cultural and policy publications and is a frequent broadcast commentator in the United States.

A Q&A Session will follow.