Something to think about today:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to
assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which
the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure
these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or
to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such
principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate
that Governments long established should not be changed for light and
transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are
more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves
by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of
abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design
to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty,
to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is
now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of
Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of
repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the
establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let
Facts be submitted to a candid world.He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the
public good.He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be
obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts
of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in
the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable,
and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose
of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly
firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to
be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have
returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the
mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions
within.He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that
purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to
pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions
of new Appropriations of Lands.He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to
Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their
offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of
Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the
Consent of our legislatures.He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the
Civil power.He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our
constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts
of pretended Legislation:For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which
they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province,
establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so
as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same
absolute rule into these Colonies:For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and
altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with
power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and
waging War against us.He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and
destroyed the lives of our people.He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to
compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with
circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous
ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to
bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends
and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to
bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose
known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes
and conditions.In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the
most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated
injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define
a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have
warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an
unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances
of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native
justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common
kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our
connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of
justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity,
which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind,
Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in
General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for
the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good
People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United
Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they
are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be
totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full
Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and
to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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.
As we relax and enjoy our holiday that means so much to the people of this
country, we must also plan how we can once again regain our independence from a
tyrannical leader. This leader however is not separated from us by seas; he is
in our own nation running it with his iron fist and totally dismissal for our
constitution.
We need to reflect upon our standing as the last remaining super power in the
world, and how in less than four years we have gone from a country with total
world support to being a country of alienation from our planet. Lest we also not
forget that in that same time period we have gone from a country of unity to a
nation of divide.
We must also look into how, in a country that promotes freedoms and success,
we are faced with one of the greatest divides in social classes our nation has
ever seen. No longer is America that land of prosperity, where a man can become
what he envisions with the proper work and attitude, but we are falling to other
nations, such as those in the European Union. Our own financial guru, Federal
Reserve Chairman Allan Greenspan recently made not to our increasing social
class divide and how it can threaten our very democracy.
Most importantly, let’s look at and try to figure our repair for how our
nation, which is suppose to be by the people and for the people, has been taken
from the people and put in the hands of corporations. Our current Congress has
done more for business than it has for the people. Our current administration
has done more for business than it has for the people. This is a frightening
pattern as we are now looked upon as the less important ingredient in our
democracy. Our government now feels that political ties to corporations are of
greater importance than its constitutional duty to the people.
Our government has been stolen by big business. It is not all shady backroom
deals and secret phone calls. It is done so with corporate soldiers, which are
also known as lobbyists. This is possibly the greatest destructing force in our
nation to date. We once again need a nation that will support its people and not
alienating them. We need congressmen who will stand up for what is right and
insure that American dream. We need to rid ourselves of questionable elections,
and reward our democracy with a system that will ensure every citizen has an
equal voice in it. Our government needs to come to terms with one simple fact;
the good of the many out weigh the good of the few.
This is the enemy we face today. It is not some radical hate group hiding in
caves overseas, or a region half a globe away with differing religious views. It
is time to stand up for what our forefather fought and died for, and honor their
memory with returning America to the great nation it once was.
The fourth of July marks the start of a revolution that was fought bravely to
ensure that any person, regardless of race, sex, religion, or social standing
could become the person he or she wished to be. We need to start a new
revolution. Not a revolution fought on battle fields with guns and cannons, but
one fought with the best weapons ever known to man; the mind and the
determination of free will. After this holiday is over and we all have time to
reflect, please join me in starting a campaign to repair our broken nation. We
must replace the ones in office that only work for big business, with ones that
will work for us, the people. We are the ones who work and pay taxes. We are the
ones who make these big businesses survive by providing them the necessary
labor, and we are the ones who the government is supposed to answer to.
Have a safe and happy holiday, for after it is over we must start a new
revolution – a revolution to remove the people who are destroying our nation
from office!