Celebrating freedom – Las Vegas Sun
Monday, July 4, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.
Today we celebrate our country’s founding with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. In the years since, the United States of America has grown into the most prosperous and influential nation in the world.
The roots for the country’s success can be found in the writings of the Founding Fathers and the critical documents — the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights — that have charted the nation’s way. The Declaration lays out the underlying philosophy of freedom, saying, “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.”
Indeed.
Proclaiming independence from Great Britain’s monarchy, the Founding Fathers took their lives into their own hands when they signed the declaration. They had been angered at the king’s oppressive policies and high taxes. They had sought relief but were left frustrated without any real representation in the government. They rebelled when they felt they had no other choice — and they went on to change history.
The Founding Fathers worked to remedy the wrongs they saw in the monarchy as they embarked on what they — and future commentators — called an “experiment” in democracy. As the country turns 235 years old, it’s worth noting that the experiment is doing quite well.
That may not be apparent to some people with all of the political rancor in the debate over the nation’s debt and its direction. However, the fact that people can freely express their views in such a manner should be a clear sign of how the country has succeeded.
Over the years, some people have failed to understand that, complaining that people who disagree with their political views are essentially unpatriotic. In the last few years there have been people who have lost any sense of context. Consider the people on the far right who have formed Tea Party groups, complaining about an erosion of their rights and demanding a return to the ideals of the Founding Fathers.
We can’t imagine that the men who participated in the Boston Tea Party in 1773 would identify with their would-be doppelgangers of today. The original Tea Party activists were oppressed by a government that sought to profit from them. The situation today simply isn’t comparable. There’s no oppression or king taking away anyone’s rights in America.
The modern Tea Party movement’s complaints are rather pedestrian in comparison. It simply doesn’t like the administration’s policies and, not so ironically, today’s activists are using all of their rights that the Founding Fathers fought for to express themselves — they are gathering together, speaking out, voting and petitioning their elected representatives. This isn’t a matter of returning to the ideals of the Founding Fathers — this is the ideal of the Founding Fathers.
It’s important today to remember the genius of the nation’s founders, whose ideas and principles are still standing. Their value on extending and protecting basic human rights has become central to the identity of this country, and that has served as an example to the world.
It is well worth celebrating America today. Long may this experiment last.