Today is Independence Day. A good question we need to ask is, “What were we independent from?” The most common answer would probably be some sort of ignorance from people who never listened or never covered the founding of the country. The most common answer we would get from people who didn’t guess “From school” would be we gained our independence from England and became a new nation. That would be right as far as it goes but still short of the real level of separation that was being sought.
Political independence was a necessary ingredient for what the Founding Fathers wanted to achieve but it was only the beginning. What they wanted to be free from what the established paradigm of Europe. They probably would not have used the word paradigm but you get the idea. Europe was a product of the Enlightenment. While there were some good things that came out of the Enlightenment it was also the source of the thinking that made the French Revolution totally different than the American Revolution. It was based on a class society that felt like there was a natural elite who deserved to rule. The American experiment was based on two concept that were, and are, rejected by Europe. They are also rejected by American elites today.
The first is the Declaration of Independence phrase “all men are created equal”. It was not a statement that all men are equal but that they were created equal. This is the principle of the rule of law and the idea illustrated by the statue of Justice with a balance scale and a blindfold. The rest of the world seems satisfied with different laws and different justice for those in the higher classes. The Founding Fathers wanted the law applied the same to everyone. It took a lot of sanding and chiseling but with the Civil Rights act of 1964 we were getting pretty close to that ideal. Of course you then had special interest elites start in with things like affirmative action and quotas.
But the dream is still there for most Americans.
The second concept is referenced in the first. In order to be created there needs to be a Creator. It was assumed in the Declaration of Independence that certain rights were ours because God had given them to us. Because God gave them, the government could not take them away. That thinking was rejected by Europe and, again, most of the world. A good example is Great Britain where you are not even allowed to defend yourself from violent attacks without fear of being arrested because you defended yourself too well.
The Progressives represented by the Democrats, socialists and people on the left want to turn back the clock, do away with the experiment and become European again. They feel that specially qualified experts are the ones who should be making major decisions and limiting our options on minor choices. They want it for our own good. It starts with seat belts and motorcycle helmets and proceeds to health care and sugar in our drinks. It ends up with one party elections with only carefully screened candidates on the ballot.
Celebrate our Independence and wake up before it is gone.
homo unius libri
Well said.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if we say it often enough some will listen.
ReplyDeleteGrace and peace