Declaration worth reading, reflecting

Qe pause to celebrate the 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence by 56 colonists who pledged “their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor so that future generations might live free from tyranny”. There are 1,320 words in the document and it takes five to ten minutes to read. Many more Americans have not read the document than have read it, but most of us understand that it is an important document in our nation’s history. The document is not our nation’s legal instrument for governance, that is the US Constitution, but the Declaration of Independence is our spiritual ethos.

That spiritual ethos is perhaps best captured in the document’s most famous phrase:

“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.”

The phrase recognizes the inherent dignity and self-worth of all humans. The phrase does not create a legal basis for securing equal political, economic or social status for all or creating opportunities for all to pursue equal political, economic or social status. Neither the original seven Articles of the US Constitution as ratified in 1788 nor the US Bill of Rights as ratified in 1791 provided legal grounds for securing equality in our land. It was not until the 1868 ratification of the 14th Amendment which includes the clause “nor shall any state deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” that a legal foundation was laid for the quest for equality in our land. 2Oth Century US Supreme Court interpretations of the “due process of law” clause of the 5th Amendment provided a legal basis for the quest for equality that might be hindered by our national government.

More legal foundation has been laid in pursuit of political equality with separate amendments to the US Constitution which prohibit states from denying the right to vote based upon one’s race or sex and to those citizens between 18 to 21 years of age. Yet another amendment prohibited states from imposing a poll tax as a hindrance to the right to vote. Congress’s approval of the 1965 Voting Rights Act initially provided a huge legal foundation in the quest for political equality. However, recent US Supreme Court rulings have swung a wrecking ball against that statutory foundation.

Other initiatives of the Trump Administration now threaten a retreat in progress made in our quest for political equality. It may be as important to assert the spiritual ethos of the Declaration of Independent today as it was in 1776 if voting rights for all citizens are to be secured.

Progress in pursuit of economic and social equality has not followed the same path as that taken in pursuit of political equality. The adoption of free mandatory education by our many states has, in my mind, done more to advance opportunities for economic and social equality than any other action taken by our states or national governments since 1776.

Great progress toward economic and social wellbeing has been made in our land since 1776 , but we are now facing another retreat as the gap between the very wealthy and the rest of us grows. Recent studies show the top 1% of American households hold $52 trillion in wealth or 31.6 % of all household net worth in the US.

This elite 1% hold more assets than the combined bottom 90% of our nation’s households. While we continue to embrace the American dream and principles of a free enterprise system, current wealth distribution in the US poses a threat of economic oligarchical rule in the US as elitist wealth is converted to political power.

I will celebrate our nation’s independence and the fact that 250 years later we are Earth’s oldest democracy. But I will celebrate knowing that new challenges lie ahead if we are to realize achievement of the spiritual ethos of the Declaration of Independence.

The quest for equality needs renewed energy and it is up to us to provide that energy through a level of political activism that would make our revolutionary patriots proud.