My fellow Americans...
My fellow Americans, (and others of the world), I’m asking that on this day you will take the time to read the Declaration of Independence that was written back in 1776.
I grew up with great respect for the men who signed that piece of parchment back then and as an American I can’t help but feel we have let those men down. There have been plenty of other Americans over the last 149 years that let those signers of the Declaration of Independence down too; but we can’t turn back the hands of time for those who are no longer alive for them to get a “do over”.
I’m going to include the entire text of the Declaration of Independence at the conclusion of this Dash so you won’t even have to go searching for it. That way there won’t be any confusion about the things I’m going to say about it; you’ll be able to go directly below and read it for yourself.
This year has...
This year has been unlike any other year in my life and yours and this 4th will be unlike any of the other 4th’s of July too. Here in Texas we have so many government restrictions on where we can go, how many people we can gather with in one location and let’s not forget it is illegal to be in public without a face mask on. I ask you, “is this the freedom those signers of Declaration of Independence fought for?”
The Declaration of ...
The Declaration of Independence lists the very reasons that those folks fought the Revolutionary War against Britain to gain their freedom (and supposedly ours too). When you read down the list of reasons though you’ll see that some of those very reasons are the same situations we have today in America. Now ask yourself, “How can this be?”
I'm not saying...
I’m not saying that the founding fathers of this country were perfect by any stretch of the imagination seeing that one of their claims was that all men are created equal yet most of them owned slaves.
What I will say is that when they had enough of being controlled by an oppressive government they stood up to that government and fought for their freedom. They even said that in the future should that situation occur that we should also do the same; they worded it as it “is their right, it is their duty”.
The way I see...
The way I see things; “duty is calling” but it isn’t getting through because of our “busy signals”. We’ve been so busy that I venture to say that maybe one in one thousand Americans have even read the Declaration of Independence once in their lifetime.
We have a whole bunch of things in common with the founding fathers of this country but we need to admit that fact and then get to work rectifying the problem. Right now I need to rectify a problem because I just realized today is Saturday.
HIVE Saturday giveaway...
HIVE Saturday giveaway time sneaked up on me and so we need to get that out of the way right now and let you get on reading the Declaration below.
@geekgirl @maryed (missypurple) and @penderis (notpenderis)are this week’s HIVE recipients in the Saturday giveaway. All three of them are, (in a way), partially responsible for me being able to fund this give away. They are all poker players that “contribute” to my winnings over at www.brosinopoker.com Congrats folks and see you at the tables soon.
For the readers of the Dash outside the USA: I would encourage you to read the declaration below as well, there just might be some points of interest for you regarding the situation you are in today, especially those who might be under the control of the Crown.
Until next time,
Sult
Declaration of Independence
In Congress, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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.
That 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.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.
To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
- For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
- For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
- For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
- For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
- For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
- For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
- For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
- For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
- For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren.
We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us.
We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here.
We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.
We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Note: the Declaration of Independence, is taken from the website: www.ourdocuments.gov
Photo credits: Sult N Papper
Wow! This is a clarion call by someone who has his or country at heart. I have read the declaration and i can over here in my country we have alot going wrong and nobody is speaking about it or taking action cause it seems everyone is now ok with how things are because that's what it looks like. But i guess change starts from everyone so nobody should wait for another to bring the change or take responsibility. It starts with all of us.
Thank you young man for taking the time to read and comment. You are absolutely correct in saying, "It starts with all of us"
We can't expect things to be perfect, that is unrealistic expectations, but all of us know that things could be better both where you live in Nigeria and where I am in the United States. We all need to do a part to see that we make our countries as near to perfect as we can.
Welcome to HIVE and do protect your keys, I think you have a lot to offer this community and look forward to seeing some of it in the future.
Until next time,
Sult
Thanks for the welcome. I also hope to work with more people like you. Thanks once again
Thank you for considering me, Sult. See you at the tables soon!
You are most welcome Missy, I enjoy playing poker and the people are what makes it great in my eyes so I like to recognize those, like you, who make the time well spent. See you soon.
A very interesting read for the 4th. I would dare say that your number of people who have actually read the Declaration of Independence may be a little low. How many folks are functionally illiterate through no fault of their own by falling through the educational cracks? My husband was a retired teacher who gave online remedial lessons to students in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Connecticut. He was appalled by the quality of education folks were receiving in the public education systems of these states. I can understand and support homeschooling.
You've confused me my good lady, what exactly are you saying here, "who have actually read the Declaration of Independence may be a little low.", in this sentence? Because the next sentence goes on to say about reasons people can't read, which makes me think you might have meant to say that my estimation of 1 out of every 1,000 might be high and it might be only 1 out of every 1,500 who have read it.
I probably could have clarified my statement as well , as I was meaning it as reading the entire document, plenty of people read to the point of 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' and then give up. Why should be bother to to look at their reasons, since they fixed all of our problems back then? (I ask that question in jest of course).
Your husband sounds like he was a very good man, and I can certainly understand that he was appalled by the lack of quality in the education system here.
Have you seen @bigtom13 lately? I hope he is out on a long motorcycle trip and nothing bad has happened to him. Not like him to go missing for so long without poking his up every now and then.
Thanks for comment and the support,
Sult
I may be a bit fuddled this morning...lack of coffee and taking a hefty dose of antibiotics for the Lyme disease. Perhaps I should clarify what I meant. Reading something and comprehending it are two different parts of the equation. I agree that lots of folks might read the first part take it for 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' all that they require to know. Some folks get befuddled when they read anything that sounds like legalese.
I think @bigtom is still visiting with newfound relatives and enjoying the experience. I am sure we will see him back soon.
Okay, we are on the same page now.
How long have you had Lyme disease? I understand that it can be very debilitating at times.
Now that you reminded about Tom's newly discovered relatives I'm in complete agreement with your assessment; he'll be back with plenty of stories and pictures.
Have a great Saturday, I have to get the fire started for cooking ribs today.
I discovered the Lyme bite early on, within days so the telltale target rash had not expanded beyond an inch. So it is a course of hefty antibiotics for the next twenty-one days. I think it was caught early enough that I shouldn't have too many of the nasty side effects. But with my age and history of not conforming to the norms...who knows. I leave it to the Creator to know best.
Ribs are a favorite around here. I assume you are wood smoking those babies! They get costly around here as we can go through 40-50 pounds in one sitting!
A mix of pecan and oak wood, makes for real good flavor. You assumed right. I wish you well with that bite,
My mouth is watering already! Happy 4th of July, my friend!
Well, it wasn't a motorcycle trip, but I did put about 4500 miles in. All is well in my world, and I'm liable to write a little about what I've been up to :)
Great to hear that Tom! Glad your trip was good and home safe.
Thank you for posting this. This is the very first time I've carefully read the Declaration of Independence all the way through. I may have skimmed through it in school but only because I had to. The following lines are screaming out to me:
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.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
This rings true and applies perfectly to our time. The government no longer reflects the will the the people and that's a pretty good barometer of how far we've slipped.
Happy 4th to you, Sult! I hope there's some way we can fix this great experiment called America (aka. the United States, The United States, The United States of America, America, U.S. and the good old US of A.)
Those two paragraphs are screaming at you because you know what is going on up in Washington isn't right. The frame work of the government system doesn't need torn down & replaced (constitution) but we do need to replace all the rest of it.
Along with two paragraphs you mentioned the listed "reasons" should scream as well, like this one; "He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance."
You and I don't have enough digits between us on our hands and feet to even count the number of Federal agencies that have been created that are doing this. Plus, through manipulation they've turned the 50 states into satellite extensions of the Washington based government instead of the states operating as sovereign and free independent states as outlined in the Paris Treaty of Peace 1783.
Sorry this reply is so late getting back to you. I did have a good 4th. My day looked something like this:
~ Slow Smoked pork ribs on the smoker
~ Cooked burgers and roasted corn on the cob on the grill
~ Won first place in the $100 HIVE "Titans of Poker Championship Tournament"
~ Spent the evening drinking ice cold Corona with lime around the fire pit while the boys launched our own fire works display
~ Then to end the night we had my favorite dessert; cheesecake.
All in all it was a good day. I hope yours was as well.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend. I need to get writing on the post about the Texas Corona statistics and clean up the empty bottles I left by the fire pit.
Sult
Yes, I agree. The frame is still in good shape but the rest of the country needs some restoration. : ).
That sounds like an excellent 4th of July. Congrats on that win! Ours was pretty quiet. We could see a lot of the fireworks being set off from our neighborhood though, that was nice. They were pretty consistent from 8pm until well past midnight. Amstel did much better this year with the fireworks. They usually put him on edge but not so much this year.
Enjoy what's left of this weekend my friend! Now I'm thirsty for a beer.