Without exception, Independence Day is my favorite holiday of the year. On this day, the fourth of July, 1776, the Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence, announcing to the world that the thirteen American colonies were no longer under the rule of Great Britain but independent states. The original immigrants came to this land to escape the tyranny of King George III, who forced religion, morality and taxation upon them. The colonists finally had enough of being ruled by a nation 3,000 miles away and decided to declare their independence from the Crown.
It literally takes my breath away trying to even imagine being in that room, on that day, when our Founding Fathers declared, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
As Americans, nothing should be more sacred than our unalienable Rights. The Declaration of Independence, and later the United States Constitution, spelled out in intricate detail what our Rights are as citizens of these United States of America. Our Founding Fathers would be horrified to see how our Rights have been misinterpreted, expanded upon and, now, trampled upon. We have come to confuse our Right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, with entitlement and demand for things to which we think we are entitled.
The right to life includes the right to defend ourselves against those who would take it from us. The Second Amendment was designed to give us, as Americans, the right to live peacefully in our own homes, on our own property without being forced to surrender to those who would violate that right. By the same token, the right to protect our own lives does not give us permission to violate the rights of others. Mutual respect is the basis of this inalienable right to life.
As Americans, we have a right to liberty, which is the freedom from coercion to do the will of others, while at the same time, taking responsibility for our own actions. The liberty that our Founding Fathers sought was the right of the United States to govern itself without the restriction from the king or other nations. Individual liberty can only be attained by the non-dependence on anyone other than ourselves. Self-reliance is the key to true liberty and is the basis of true independence. Celebrating our independence as a nation is necessarily an extension and reflection of independence as individuals.
The right to pursue happiness is often confused with the belief that we are entitled to be happy. We have the right to pursue our own individual happiness as long as it does not infringe on the rights of the lives and liberty of others. I cannot take what you have simply because it will make me happy. I do, however, have the right to work for what I want if I believe my desires will lead to happiness. When did we become a nation of takers instead of a nation of givers? The delusion of entitlement must be crushed in order for us to be truly happy.
The pioneers who came to this land in search of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness inherently knew that freedom was the worthiest of goals – worth fighting and dying for if need be. They believed that a life lived in bondage was not worth living. They knew that the ultimate sacrifice was not too great a price to pay for a free people to live in peace.
That incredible American spirit was the driving force that led to our independence. It is incumbent on each and every one of us to pass that American spirit on to the next generation and instill in our children the gift of liberty that was bestowed upon all of us.
“This was the object of the Declaration of Independence. Not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take. Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion.”
–Thomas Jefferson, letter to Henry Lee, 1825
Whether you were fortunate enough to be born on American soil or whether you sought freedom from a life of bondage and tyranny, it is my hope that you fully appreciate the significance of what I believe is the most important day of the year – the Birthday of the United States of America.
Happy Independence Day and God Bless America!
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
It’s common to reference the well worded Jefferson as the archetype for a founding father, when in reality not only did Jefferson have slaves (demonstrating the kind of personal independence possible for people who weren’t rich, white, male) but many of the founding fathers were quite contrary to him.
The literal heirs to power, with their ancestors, ravaged the native population.
Now our federal government has a dystopian surveillance system before undreamed of and is regularly killing suspected related forces, often civilians, in foreign countries fomenting the very terrorism they claim to fight.
I’m working today because consumerism doesn’t rest. But while americans use their entitlement funds to buy crack down at the corner, trillions have been spent on unconstitutional wars, some of which that disingenuous tyrant Reagan helped germinate.
Thank you for sharing, Prem.
Wow, Prem…you must be the life of the party at your family’s 4th of July celebration.
College campus contrarianism at its finest.
My mother is also working today.
Regardless though I love eating, spending time with family and friends, good conversation.
No need to stuff that full of nationalism.
I don’t apologize for my “nationalism,” or what I like to call patriotism. I am eternally grateful to have been born an American. Of course, you have every right to express your opinion, which right you have because hundreds of thousands of men and women have given their lives so that you can enjoy the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. If it weren’t for them, your free time might be spent quite differently. Just saying.
Steph: I loved your blog. I am a vet from WW2 and I fully side with you.
Thank you, Dr. Tracton. There are no words to thank you enough for your service to our country. God Bless!
Prem,
July 4th is a holiday dedicated to commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independece; in other words, it’s America’s birthday.
I’d say a little “nationalism” is in order.
I am glad to have been born and raised in a country with safe safe streets, I am not proud to live in a country which makes the streets more dangerous for people in other countries.
An international bully. Jefferson is spinning in his grave at the NSA surveillance state, over a decade of war, an uncontrollable central bank…let’s not go on.
Be thankful for what you have, but in your pride don’t forget most of it was stollen from others (anyone say Native Americans? remember that genocide the Americans brought to this land?)
Prem,
The European countryside is covered with gravestones of brave American soldiers who fought and died to secure freedom and liberty for them. Our soldiers fought and died thoughout Europe and Africa, then they came home. We did not claim land for ourself.
We fought and died to free Kuwait from Iraq.
We fought and died to replace the murderous regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan with something better; better for the inhabitants of those nations who were tortured, imprisoned and gased to death by their despotic leaders. And then…we hand full control back to them. We do not remain and seize control of their land as imperialist conquerors.
The planet’s shipping channels are free of death and piracy largely because of the presence of the US Navy.
Picture a planet WITHOUT America’s influence and tell me with a straight face it is a better place. Tell me we’re better off with Naziism, Stalinism and Marxism in control of Europe. Tell me Africa is a better place WITHOUT the hundreds of billions in aid we send them, and WITHOUT our military aid from time to time.
Please, Prem….tell me where I have it wrong.