July 4th — Independence Day

Lurker

0 likes 4 Jul 2016

Today is American Independence Day and all my friends from the USA are posting congratulatory messages on each other's profiles. Whilst I don't wish to spoil their party, I would like to ask this question — how well do they think their country has upheld the principles of the Founding Fathers as laid out in that wonderful document, the Declaration of Independence. I quote just a small section of the preamble — stirring words indeed, although they talk only about men, women universally being seen as subservient in those unenlightened times and dependent upon men for their happiness etc.

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.

Beffer

Rainbow Warrior

0 likes 7 Jul 2016

Your family motto: Faded, but not destroyed, comes to mind here. It connotes hope in the face of adversity. Americans celebrate Independence Day in memory of the origins of those principles you mention. America has seen those principles severely tested for more than two centuries. At times we have failed mightily, but we have pulled ourselves from the brink of disaster by remembering those founding principles: The Civil War, the Great Depression, two World Wars, and if we are once again faded, we are not yet destroyed. There is still hope, despite corporatism threatening democracy itself, nativism, racism, partisanism, and jingoism destroying the hearts and minds of ignorant and weak Americans. There is, I think, still a majority of Americans with the decency and intelligence to reject the forces which have made and continue to make our nation fade from the greatness it has seen in its past. We'll see next November.