This coming Friday will be the nation's 232nd birthday - Happy Birthday USA! America's birthday is called Independence Day because it was on July 4, 1776, we declared our independence from Britain in writing - no, it was not a PowerPoint presentation, just a hand-written document. Many people say it was the last good document Congress ever produced and they may be right. We call it the Declaration of Independence; they titled it, "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America."
The original purpose was to declare the independence of the thirteen colonies, renamed the United States of America, but it turned into something more significant. Prior to the Declaration, humans had been struggling for thousands of years to define the relationship between individuals and rulers. At times those rulers were monarchies, at times they were conquerors, but they were also early democracies that took hold in places like Athens around 500 B.C. We often forget that democracy is not just a modern concept.
The authors of the Declaration reached a point where they thought a list of grievances detailing why they wanted to be independent was not sufficient. They believed that an underpinning was critical; this would form a basic framework around which their arguments could be built and sustained. Through their intellect, passion, beliefs, faults and their compromises they penned the finest description of the relationship between individuals and government ever written and it remains so to this day. It was the nation's birthday, but they gave us the gift that keeps on giving. The essence of these great ideas reside in just a few sentences:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
That's it, the simple and essential concepts; the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness belong to the people. The government's function is to secure those rights and the government derives its powers from the consent of the governed. Do you think about those words on Election Day? Last election two-thirds of the eligible voters did not bother. They keep telling themselves that their vote does not make a difference and to prove it, they did not vote. I guarantee you this: if you do not vote, your vote will not make a difference and your self-fulfilling prophecy will come true. The current American political thought process is that winning is everything - well, those who believe that are wrong. The truth is that exercising your rights is everything, for you can never win if you remain dormant.
The signers of the Declaration summed up their support as follows: "we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor." They were committed to risk all for their rights - to have their say about how their nation should be governed. It has become popular with 20-20 hindsight to point out all the omissions, errors and out-of-date ideas held by the authors, but if you are critical of them just try to imagine their reaction to the current apathy Americans have shown toward their government and the actions by their elected representatives.
Did the first Congress, those who laid down that wonderful explanation of rights and implied responsibilities, ever imagine that so many votes could be bought with colored balloons and lawn signs - that serious issues would receive the two-minute TV treatment - and so many of the electorate would be uninterested in the government or its decisions? I doubt it.
Marty Richman Got a question or a comment? Send us an email.
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