Meditation on July 4th by Bruce Hartford

by Bruce Hartford  Sojourner's Blog July 5th 2012

July 4th, 2012. All over the country, we the people celebrate 
Hotdog and Fireworks Day. If we attend some official event
organized by the powers that be, we are treated to an orgy of
flag waving, patriotic bombast, and bloviations on “Liberty” (the
details of which are unspecified). But almost never is there any
reading of the Declaration of Independence that today we
supposedly honor.

It’s no surprise that the ruling elite prefer to ignore the
Declaration because at that document’s core are five fundamental
assertions that they wish to conceal beneath piles of patriotic
blather:

     “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
     created equal,”

This never meant — then or now — that every individual has the
same talent, ability or character. It does mean that there is no
class of people, no aristocracy, who are inherently superior by
reason of their wealth or birth. And that those at the bottom of
the economic pyramid are not lesser, or sub-human creatures who
deserve lives of drudgery devoid of hope. That there are no “ten”
whose lot in life is deserved toil so that “one” can repose in
leisure and luxury. It also implies that criminals who use their
power and position to rob pension funds and loot the economy
should not be allowed to escape the consequences of their crimes
because they are rich or politically-connected (continued)