Mo's Manic Monday - Independence
Posted: Monday, July 02, 2007 by Travis Cody in
Welcome to another Manic Monday with Mo. And big thanks to Morgen for the wonderful banner. Don't forget to cruise by MM HQ at It's A Blog Eat Blog World. Today's theme is Independence.
I'm a geek. Every year at this time I read the Declaration of Independence. Why? Because it is the fundamental document of our country. The Constitution is critical to our daily lives as it sets out the basic structure of our government and gives us as citizens the power to affect the way we are governed.
But the Declaration reminds us how we got here. It spells out the desire of people to be free and in control of their own destiny. Two hundred thirty one years ago, events were set in motion by the signing of a Declaration of Independence. Our forefathers declared to the world what they intended. And then they went and did what they declared. The document is stirring and powerful, and I feel a surge of pride and patriotism each time I read it.
That's the point of reading it. I want to be reminded and I want to understand. These times are divisive. It's important to remember that the writers of the Declaration and the framers of the Constitution specifically understood the diversity of the people who would reside in this new country they were founding. We do not all think alike, and because we don't, we developed this wonderful idea of democracy.
Democracy works because of our diversity, and yet we seem more and more these days to want everyone to be and think and live the same. That's not going to happen. And it shouldn't.
What the Declaration reminds us is that we can come together in our differences to find a new way, a better way, a more universal way. And we can only do that in freedom from tyranny and despotism. We must care enough to listen. In listening to our diverse opinions, we must find a common ground. We must not force others to our opinions, but rather we must learn about the way others perceive and find worthy compromises.
OK. I'm a geek and an idealist. But I firmly believe that we must be willing to listen to each other and accept our differences. We're all Americans. We all descend from this wonderful document. This Declaration of Independence set the stage for difference and diversity of thought.
Take a few minutes and go read it here.
We make mistakes. We do. But when we do, when we've lost our way, we must return to center. This document defines who we are as a nation. We are Americans.
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. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
Great food for pondering, my friend. Thanks for the reminder that independence and freedom are not to be taken lightly.