As history would have it, Adams was two days early. The
Founders were not content with a mere resolution in the throes of the American
Revolution. They recognized the need to make the moral case for independence,
and the leaders of the colonies did so two days later on July 4, 1776.
As we celebrate that declaration 237 years later,
most Americans pay more attention to holiday travel plans, barbeque and
fireworks than the importance of the Declaration of Independence. Many of us never stop to question why
America’s Founders would risk their lives and fortunes for something as
abstract as liberty. Why would they voluntarily dissolve their bond with the
most powerful nation in the world for the fleeting chance at a new experiment
in self-governance?
Fundamentally, the Founders articulated two
complaints against the British government in the text of the Declaration of
Independence: The British Crown no longer operated with the consent of the
colonists, and the government had departed from its purpose of protecting the
preexisting “unalienable” rights of the people to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was arguably
the last great employment of the ideas found in the Declaration of
Independence. Americans recognized unconstitutional injustices based on race
and altered their government by demanding equal protection under the law. Since
that time, the power, reach, and size of the government have largely grown
unchecked. In a little more than a year, we have seen the government gloss over
political targeting within the IRS, the NSA sweeping in tremendous amounts of
data about American citizens, and even the Supreme Court rewriting a law in
order to find it constitutional.
Our Founders would likely recognize us as their
ideological descendants, but their perspective would be unflattering. They
might view the majority of us as “more disposed to suffer, while evils are
sufferable, than [willing] to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which
they are accustomed.”
The bigger question is whether we actually believe
that it is our right to alter or abolish a government that is destructive to
the ends of our lives, our liberty, and our pursuit of happiness.
The notion that all is as it should be when it comes
to America’s government is willful ignorance. Respected polls suggest 78
percent of Americans disapprove of their Congress’s performance. Around half
the nation disapproves of President Obama’s leadership and 69 percent of the
country ranks the Supreme Court’s performance as either fair or poor.
Regardless of ideology, government run amok is a
problem for every American because our inaction permits it to continue. Almost
every level of government continues to autonomously expand into all aspects of
our daily lives. Our rights have, in many respects, become beholden to a
government that was initially tasked with protecting them.
We have repeatedly been promised the world by our
political leaders if only we would part with slightly more of our earnings,
submit to yet another regulation designed with our best interest in mind, or
fund a masterfully-designed government program. Those promises have been broken
time and again, and we know it.
For many of us, the dissonance with the Founders’
mindset occurs because we have forgotten that our interest is liberty. Strong
communities, families, jobs, and economies are products of that interest, but
they will not replace it. Politicians may promise more security and more
provision, but those assurances are hollow opiates if they cost us the liberty
that imbues our actions and choices with meaning.
That is why our Founders were willing to sacrifice
their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to secure it. The chance to have real
liberty was more important than anything else they could possess.
John Adams concluded his letter to Abigail with a
startling moment of clarity. He wrote, “I am well aware of the Toil and Blood
and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support
and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of
ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the
Means.”
As we reflect on that toil, blood, and treasure that
ultimately birthed the world’s greatest experiment in democracy, we must ask
ourselves what sacrifices we are willing to make to secure the blessings of
liberty for future generations.
About the author: Cameron Smith is policy director
and general counsel for the Alabama Policy Institute, an independent,
non-profit research and education organization dedicated to the preservation of
free markets, limited government and strong families. If you would like to
speak with the author, he may be reached 205.870.9900, at camerons[at]alabamapolicy.org
or on Twitter @DCameronSmith.
This article was published by the Alabama Policy
Institute.
No comments:
Post a Comment