The Fourth of July is a day we Americans mark as a day of our independence from a state thousands of miles across the ocean. It's a day we celebrate the spirit this country was found on, this spirit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The idea that the individual has certain inalienable rights that no other (individual or group) can legitimately or morally restrict. But it seems we, as a society, have strayed far from these ideas.
What did the founders of this country foresee? What was their intent when creating this system? If we look to the texts they left us we can try to get an understanding as to what their intent was.
The founders shared a belief, for the most part, if not had an understanding of the ideas of natural rights. This idea that we should have the right to peacefully do what we want as long as we don't violate anyone else's right to do the same. They formed a system the hoped would protect these individual rights. They believed that if a state (even the one they created) violated that oath, the people have a right (if not a duty) to address those violations. If peaceful redress does not work, they were explicit that violence could be justifiable. The ideas and even the system were, as they would call it, an experiment in freedom. But what results hav ethis system, this state, yielded? The idea of individual liberty the founders set out to protect has been violated alsomst since the inception of the United States.
From the Whiskey Rebellion, to internment camps, and the constant oppression of an ever growing police state, our government has violated these natural rights too many times to count.
So what are we really celebrating? Mass incarceration? Police Brutality? It seems we become more dependent on government to solve our problems, and that was certainly not the intent of this system. In the state of Maryland I can't (legally) buy fireworks that shoot a certain height in the air. What is sold here has been reduced to large sparklers. They have literally restricted our freedom to celebrate freedom.
We see new rules (laws) everyday further separating us from these ideas of individual liberty. It seems more like an experiment in tyranny, not freedom.
We face voting for “leaders” such as Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, who, through all of their rhetoric, don't seem to want to take a step from this ever growing oppressive state.
It seems the stsem created has not had its intended results. Now, I think the Constitution was a great stepp stone to a system or society based on respect of individual rights, but it would seem about time to take another step, to try something new. The main idea of these documents, the idea that the rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are inalienable and natural to all people, is a great one. But what does that mean, and could we really base a society off of that generic tag line?
I think we all agree that we all have a right to life (without violating another's rights). But, if you have the right to to life, don't you also have the right to defend that life by any means you feel necessary? If someone doesn't like the way in which you go about protecting your life, does that really give them the right to restrict this defense? Furthermore, if someone is restricting or laying claim over your right to defend your life wouldn't they be claiming some right over your right to life to at least some degree? I would say it's pretty unjustifiable to violate one's right like that, yet our government restricts these rights all the time.
I think the right to liberty can be summed up the same way. If someone is stopping you from enjoying liberty, as long as you aren't violating their right to the same, they have no justification, a legitimate one, for violating your rights and you have every right to defend yourself accordingly. My understanding and opinion on the “pursuit of happiness” is that you have every right to peacefully seek out what you want. You can trade with others, you can combine labor voluntarily, whatever you want to do as long as it doesn't restrict the rights of others to do the same. It seems pretty simple.
I think its something we could all agree to. Can't we all just get along? I think most be would agree to live in a society based around these ideas because it gives each person ultimate choice with what to do with his or her life. The important thing to note is that if the individual has ultimate decision over their actions, they also have the responsibility of dealing with the consequences of those actions. I think this could make people more careful when making decisions, especially those where the consequences could be negative.
Where I believe the founders went wrong is their, maybe naive, notion that a state, even under these specific guidelines, as out of control as we see today could be stopped or restricted by the “chains of the Constitution”.
When I See an example of government over reach I often think of a quote by Lysander Spooner, “But whether the Constitution really be one thing or another, this much is certain – that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case it is unfit to exist.”
If one individual doesn't have the right to violate another man's right, he can not delegate that illegitimate right to another (even a government) to magically make it legitimate. But, that is what government doesn't, democracy s just making rules based on the will of the majority. The minority is often left with a bad taste in their mouths.
But, our fear seems to be that if the state were cone respect for others, peace, free trade would be the last things we'd expect to see. But, I ask, how much restriction of these rights, how much violence needs to be thrust upon us by the state before we say, “Wow, things couldn't get any worse?” Will it take something like the Holocaust? Just how much violence will the state have to put on us before we see how illegitimate their “authority” is? I believe we are evolving in a way where we are becoming more intolerant of violence. But, one of the biggest road blocks to this evolution is the violence of the state. The longer we let it go, and continue down our present path, the farther we will drift from these ideas, and that would be shame for all of us. Without life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, what do we really have? Tyranny. So, instead of celebrating things that are long gone, maybe we should look to bring about some of the more positive and legitimate ideas the founders had. Let's celebrate the idea of individual liberty, the idea that we as a people have a right over our life, and that authority over the individual is only held by that individual. We could come so much further towards a peaceful society, and maybe even have something worth celebrating again some day.
