Posted on 07/04/2015 3:18:39 AM PDT by nathanbedford
DAD, WHAT's UNABHÄNGIGKEITSTAG?
"Is that when the thirteen colonies broke away from England?" My ten year inquired out of nowhere at 6 AM German time this morning. "Yeah, why do you want to know, eat your breakfast," I mumbled, too sleepy to be very curious. "Because I am afraid my teacher will ask me, since I am wearing this T-shirt and I'm the only American in the class." With an effort, I adjusted my gaze upward to his white T-shirt. It was brand new. Prominent on his breast was an image of the flag and below that:
OLD NAVY
FREEDOM 2005 TRADITION
Waking up now, I reflected that if the Old Navy company could so shamelessly trade on the image of the flag, it ought in decency at least amend the line below to:
FREEDOM 2005 COMMERCE
But then I thought, what could be more traditional in America than commercializing the flag?
"Waddayamean, you're the only American in class, what's that got to do with the Fourth of July?" My paternal antennae were also coming to life. I remembered that the kids had sometimes returned from Gymnasium, German high school, and recited seemingly off-hand remarks from professors disparaging America and especially George Bush. Some of the hearsay reports had been pretty rough, describing America as killing Iraqis or causing global warming and the like.
"I think he will call on me to explain the Declaration of Indepencence to the whole class," masking his apprehension. "So, what will you tell them?"
"That is how we got free of England," he replied, in German. "That's right, as far as it goes. Never mind breakfast, lets get to the computer, it time to search FreeRepublic." A few minutes later we had a copy of the declaration printed out, with the font changed to italics for psuedo verisimilitude to the venerable document.
"There is actually a couple of ideas in here that are more important than announcing our break with England," I said, highlighting with a yellow marker this passage:
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights
And this passage too:
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed
"This means that who you are, what rights you have, come directly from God and not from the government. In fact, the government is there to serve you, as a child of God, not the other way around, and when the government takes away your rights, the government is not legitimate, and you can change it."
"What's legitimate?" Ah, " berechtigt," I answered. I must have gotten it right for he seemed satisfied with the translation and his Deutsch is better than mine. Handing him the printout, I said, "take this with you, read it on the bus, and when you get to class you tell them these ideas are America's gift to the world. A lot of people in Europe think your rights come from the government, not the other way around. No one had ever done this 'for real' before. Look what it says here just before where they signed it, it means they knew they were risking their lives:"
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor
"OK, dad, see ya."
An hour later, his mother asked me, "Did you give him a printout of the Declaration of Independence?" "Yup," I proudly responded.
She laughed, "He said, 'Dad really expects me to read this on the school bus'"
For us, living as we do here in Germany, it is our way of holding fast to our America. So every year we keep the tradition and then await the reactions of FReepers which have been consistently gratifying and even heartwarming.
So the tradition goes on into its seventh [now 10th year] year even as the imperative to return to and cling to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution becomes more urgent as our country founders in the midst of a terrible "fundamental transformation"
God Bless you.
BTTT!
Thank you!
I wonder if the French experienced Schadenfreude at the British defeat in the Colonies.
I always enjoy your responses on the forum.
Thank you for re-posting this.
History and the modern world is replete with governments that oppress their “citizens” and see them as subjects rather than masters. Kings, dictators, oligarchs are pretty much the norm.
America is unique in that our founders declared that our rights come from God and are not granted to us by our government masters, be they benevolent or otherwise. Sadly, we are far adrift from those original principles that made us so precious.
BTW, I’m not claiming the founders created a perfect form of government—far from it! No. There is no such thing as that in this world, but the closer we draw to the ideal, the better off we are.
This is lovely....you did well.
I trust your son still has a reverence and appreciation for America.
NFL.
Good stuff but, I thought you were a dead racist who’s temporarily buried in Tennessee.
tell your wife that we not only thank you for the effort but look forward to reading it again next year
“So the tradition goes on into its seventh [now 10th year] year”
WE ARE GETTING OLD! AGGHHH!
though not nearly so important as what you had highlighted.
Those ideas did not arise from a vacuum (every other form of government, among me, had been tried, and found wanting) and those who signed knew they signed what could become their own death warrant.
correction; among men, I meant to write, not among “me”
The nobility did— they financed the defeat. However, the king of France bankrupted his treasury in doing so (sound familiar) and was in hock to... sovereign bankers (you can look up who they were).
Hamilton created our national bank for the new “ruling class” in northern states(much against the outcries of Jefferson et al), so that the US could begin to repay the war debt to France, which it did, sort of. In any case, in short order the cash shortage, bad harvest and regal arrogance brought the French Revolution and the Terror to reality.
A pablum version of this being played out in Greece, awaiting the seizure of US private deposits by the infamous “Bank of the US” aka the Federal Reserve.
Happy Independence Day-— in name only. The South tried.
Love it!
But, as our own government sinks further into being all about its own power, when do we get to say when it is no longer legitimate? When will THAT day come?
You can say that in the Declaration of Independence, the Founders were actually warning us about THIS day, and not just declaring independence from Britain.
Thank you! I always appreciate your posts.
Not only did they experience a large dose of "Schadenfreude", they provided an invaluable contribution to the defeat itself, therefore earning the right to well-deserved "satisfaction", too.
Great job, NB. Thanks for sharing.
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