Posted on 07/03/2006 7:48:21 AM PDT by Ed Hudgins
by Edward Hudgins, The Atlas Society & Objectivist Center
On July 4 we celebrate the creation of the United States of America. Our birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence, reads, "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal." It states that we're each endowed with "certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." It concludes that "to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed."
Most Americans give lip service to these sentiments. But how many of us understand what these words really mean? Equality? Rights? Americans in spirit must hold these principles in their hearts and minds, and use them as guides in society. So it's appropriate to take a few minutes to reflect on what our Founders meant when they created the opportunity for this annual occasion of families, friends, picnics and fireworks.
Let's start with the concept of equality. The Founders understood that equality does not mean that we're identical in any of our many particulars. In fact, "equality" seems a paradoxical term to use, since a guiding principle of those Founders was individualism. See for a moment what they saw. Look around you. Everyone you know is different from everybody else. We all look different. We're male and female, blond, brunette and redhead, tall and short. We have different capacities, temperaments, likes, dislikes, goals and aspirations. So where is this equality?
A hint is found in the fact that the most important things that distinguish us from one another are not accidents of birth. As philosopher Ayn Rand put it, "As man is a being of self-made wealth, so he is a being of self-made soul." ...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Sure. It's just that some are freer and more equal than others. And that's a world-wide observation.
.. you are free to do as you're told.
I believe it is the equal protection clause of the constitution. The Supreme Court has violated this clause. We are supposed to be treated equally under the law. This is not happening. There are so many privileges granted to minorities and women under the law, that the constitution has been made into a joke.
You're right, which is why we need to return to basic principles.
This isn't difficult. The Declaration is about political rights. Every sentence in it is about political rights, including the one that includes "all men are created equal." To suggest that Jefferson meant that everybody can high-jump seven feet is simply silly. He meant that we are born with equal political rights.
...the mass of mankind has not been born with saddle on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God. (Jefferson, Letter to Roger Weightman, 1826)
That's what he meant and that's all he meant.
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