Interdependence Day
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...
To me, these simple, elegant words from the Declaration of Independence are some of the most powerful and hopeful ever written.
But the reality behind the words is profoundly disappointing, considering that so many of the Declaration's signers were slaveholders. And of course, the word "men" wasn't just politically incorrect usage. The Founders literally meant males, since the men didn't grant women the right to vote for another 150 years. And let's not even talk about blacks, who were defined in our Constitution as the equivalent of three-fifths of a white human being.
Ok, so we fixed all that, and today, "men" is assumed to be all-inclusive. But do we really believe all men — read, human beings — are created equal? Hardly. Scooter Libby is certainly more equal than some poor schmuck who's been busted for growing a few marijuana plants in his basement, for example.
And much like Libby, Americans are more equal than virtually every other living soul on the planet. What else explains how we so easily accept the abject misery we've inflicted on the people of Iraq, without feeling the least bit of horror or remorse? Iraqis are simply not like us. They are not our equals, and so it follows that the lives of these lesser beings are not worth what our lives are worth.
America has some growing up to do. We're like an adolescent who's still too self-centric for his own good, and for the good of everyone around him, too.
When a country suffers from an adolescent narcissism, it's called nationalism:
On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.
Is not nationalism — that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary so fierce it engenders mass murder — one of the great evils of our time, along with racism, along with religious hatred?
But today, the Fourth of July will no doubt be celebrated with more mindless flag-waving, and more patriotic speeches that sound like a pep rally for a high school football game. Sure, we'll also pay dutiful lip service to the Declaration of Independence, but we still don't fully understand what those revolutionary words mean — that all men are created equal. Not just Americans. Not just us. All.
BTW, the title Interdependence Day is a phrase used in a great post about nationalism, which includes this quote by George Orwell:
The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.
Comments
I think we've become an economic oligarchy where the rich and powerful rig the system for their own benefit while squeezing middle and working class Americans out of every dime they can. Looking at the stats from the last 30 years, what used to take one income now takes two. Two incomes is no longer a luxury. They've instituted longer work hours, less vacation time, and salaries that don't keep up with inflation. They've stolen our pensions, they want to take away social security and privatize it so the Wall Street types can steal from us (you ever notice how many fees you pay in your 401(k)?)They get away with it because Americans are stupid and naively believe that they (or their kids) can somehow make it the way Bill Gates or Mike Bloomberg or some other rag to riches guy has made it. But the stats don't lie. You have a better shot of economic mobility in old Europe than you do here.
Posted by: reality-based educator | July 4, 2007 10:20 AM
That's it in a nutshell, rbe. And the Cheney/Bush Mob are the champions of that system.
Posted by: abi | July 4, 2007 11:46 AM
Very eloquent and thoughtful post, Abi. Kind of sad too. Our ideals and image have become tarnished with age, and RBE touches on some of the reasons. The powerful have rigged the system against the rest of us. It was that way in the early 1900's and society worked to change that - and for a while it was working - but the pendulum has once again swung against us.
Posted by: Kathy | July 5, 2007 03:41 PM
Thanks very much, Kathy.
You're right - it took a comitted leader like FDR to change things around the last time things were so lopsided. It's going to take another leader as dedicated to Democratic principles as he was to turn things around again. Thank god we've got - Hillary?
God help us...
Posted by: abi | July 5, 2007 05:25 PM
Whatever was in the Constitution - a process of long haggling that post-dates the Declaration of Independence - I'm not sure you can say that the use of the word "men" at the beginning of the Declaration "literally meant males" to all of the Founders; I suspect that at least some of them would disagree.
Not that it mattered, since it was the Constituion that became the law.
But let's not forget that Thomas Jefferson tried to free his slaves, but the pro-slavery types - who had the upper hand in those days - actually changed the law to make it harder (and expensive) to do so. Jefferson, who was not really that rich, would have had to bankrupt himself to set his slaves free.
Posted by: Avedon | July 7, 2007 02:50 PM
Avedon, I'm sure there were some enlightened signers, but not enough.
But my point was, the word "men" in that sentence is still interpreted too narrowly even today, judging from our actions.
Posted by: abi | July 7, 2007 05:05 PM