I don’t care for the term ‘futurist.’ But whatever minor fame I have enjoyed in my life has been due primarily to being a forward-looking optimist. In recent years, I’ve developed a drearier outlook. The pace of liberatory change has been slower than I hoped. And I’m coming around to the view that we have lost our unifying creed, our basic principles, and our civic religion. Whatever one thinks about the promise of technology or trends in decentralization, there will be no splendid renaissance if we shear away our roots.
For Americans, the two most important sentences in the English language were published 250 years ago. That is why we are all supposed to be celebrating. But this year shouldn’t be your typical party of fireworks and potato salad. If we are going to move forward together as a people, this must be an intellectual and spiritual awakening.
So what are those two most important sentences in English? Let’s dive in.
The first one gets the most attention. It goes like this:
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.
Believe it or not, Americans are divided about this, just when we need to be united.
Indeed, some argue that without a Creator, there can be no Rights, that is, that rights come from God.
Others say that appeals to God do no earthly good if we’re living under the yoke of a political class that treats us like herd animals to be milked for their power and pet projects.
Yet a third group splits the difference, saying, while it’s true that tyrants don’t care about theological justifications for equal freedom, we respected rights more when more people believed they came from God. Therefore, maybe we should believe in God-given rights, even if they’re a myth.
I’m gonna put on my Old Testament hat and offer to split the baby—with all respect to Solomon and Thomas Jefferson. We can either encourage people to sacralize the original formulation of God-given rights, or we can flip the justification on its head. Like this:
Those of us who want life, liberty, and the freedom to pursue happiness had better find those who agree and come together in solidarity to form a compact to respect and defend such rights.
Respecting those rights, of course, means pledging to refrain from harming the innocent and then endeavor to protect the innocent from harm. With or without God talk, we are looking out for each other’s rights. This way, Believers and Agnostics alike can share the same creed and form a compact.
Now, the very idea of that compact brings me to the other most important sentence in the English language to Americans. It’s a long one, but equally vital.
...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.
This long, compound sentence can be broken down into important highlights.
First, start with the idea that government officials derive their JUST powers from our consent. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t granted my consent to all this crap since I was old enough to know better. And if you agree, we need to find each other.
Second, based on that first important sentence about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we have a right to alter or abolish any government that no longer serves us or respects our other rights.
Some people think we have to contrive some near-unanimous election or stage a violent rebellion. And that’s not crazy if we’re being honest. But that doesn’t mean we can’t underthrow power. We who still believe in Jefferson’s project can form our own distinctly American compact and begin to “institute new Government” while this one collapses under its own weight.
It starts with something as simple as joining a club.
Okay, that brings us to the third bit of this very long but important sentence. We can and should institute new government based on principles of good governance. The federal government has obviously abandoned such principles–despite the noble efforts of the Framers.
It’s time to fork the code.
Once we fork the code, we can start by coming together in solidarity as people who value freedom. We can then refine our principles, and therefore our laws, to prepare for an American Renaissance. It won’t be easy, but we’ve got to do it. It’s not for us, after all. It’s for our kids. They are worth inheriting lives of liberty as they pursue happiness.
Instead of arguing about the finer points – let’s get started.
America is 250 years old.
Share this with somebody who wants to start over with a significant set of upgrades.
