The foundation...
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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
The Towpath Volunteers give a rousing version of Yankee Doodle Dandy.
I have no idea how many times I've read the Declaration of Independence, but this time this really caught my attention for some reason: Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
ReplyDeleteHow prescient.
The problems we have now may arise if it's not self-evident as they thought. In the time of the Founders, people like Voltaire wrote (using Jesuit reports from around the world) about supposed universal human qualities. That turned out to be a huge over-simplification. I really like this piece:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cato.org/blog/how-people-abroad-viewed-our-declaration-independence
Some old-school class for you on your national day: Ava Gardner waves the Stars and Stripes.
ReplyDeletehttp://67.media.tumblr.com/cb3f3ec7184fc7b63aae1b8e83dccf9a/tumblr_o9s6k4FVdT1rq0r8go1_500.jpg
240 years. An anniversary of some gravitas.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lad from the USA working at my place at the moment. He's fairly laid back about most things, but was still somewhat bereft at how the day is no more noticed or remarked upon here than is, say, the National Day of the Congo, or of Moldova.
All part of the vive la difference one experiences when travelling in exotic foreign cultures!