| It’s
the 4th of July! – True, but More Important It’s
Independence Day!!
By Tom Borkes
On this
Independence Day it may be useful to take a look at one of the
men who was largely responsible for making it happen –
the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson.
"May
[our Declaration of Independence] be to the world, what I believe
it will be (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally
to all), the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under
which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them
to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security
of self-government... All eyes are opened, or opening, to the
rights of man." - Thomas Jefferson to Roger C. Weightman
Written in 1826 shortly before his death, Jefferson was begging
off an invitation to come to Washington on Independence Day
to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the country he helped birth.
It was in this final bit of prose, part of the over 30,000 pieces
of correspondence he was associated with over his 83 years,
that in one last flurry of genius Jefferson communicated to
history his vision for America. In poor health, but one who
was never comfortable in reveling in celebration anyway, the
sage of Monticello had no way of knowing that he wouldn’t
have been able to attend even he had accepted the invitation
– he died on that very day, July 4, 1826. More mystical
still was later that same day in Braintree, Massachusetts, John
Adams, another giant in the Pantheon of American history, was
on his deathbed and uttered some of his final words “
at least Jefferson lives” – he was wrong.
We live in a time when relativism is replacing religion –
where much of society feels that no one is really accountable
for his or her individual actions. At best, we are slaves to
our particular biochemical and genetic make-up. At worst, our
parents and our socio-economic environment made us do it. Jefferson
would have bristled at this zeitgeist. When he wrote the words
to justify separation from England: “…we hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain inherent and
inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments
are instituted among men…” there are two crucial
implications:
1. Each person is sacred and equal in the eyes of God. Each
is entitled to a life of self-determination. That self-determination
is manifested through the God-given gift of free will –
our greatest gift.
2. The government exists for the people. The people do not exist
for the government. A government’s only purpose for existence
should be to protect each individual from any sinister force
that would limit the individual’s ability to seek out
happiness (however “happiness” is defined by the
individual). If a government oversteps the authority the people
give it toward that end, it becomes one of those sinister forces.
The extent to which it oversteps its bounds determines how loudly
the word “tyranny” is spoken in connection with
that particular government. Further, the purpose of government
is not to guarantee an individual’s happiness, but create
and maintain an environment where that happiness is attainable
through the individual’s hard work and resourcefulness
– exercised through their free will. The individual’s
sovereignty is as indivisible as the sun, but unlike the sun
will never be extinguished.
The 4th of July is a calendar date. Independence Day was an
earth-changing event. Happy Independence Day!
Tom Borkes is a mechanical engineer who leads the Jefferson
Project, a new approach to high tech education - www.thejeffersonproject.org
- He also leads the Thomas Jefferson Discussion Group of Central
Florida – http://jdg.thejeffersonproject.org
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