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Some gave all...

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Properties SW, Inc.

Do you agree with the following paragraph?

It's obvious that all humans are basically the same in some elementary ways. Just as an animal will struggle to stay alive and free, humans want and have the natural right to protect their life and liberty. All humans desire happiness and will seek it just as surely as an animal will seek food. Since individual strength only goes so far, it is natural for humans to band together to provide protection for all members of a group when faced with threats that are beyond the power of an individual to combat. In order to be most effective, the group must gain the consent of each of the individual members. Even groups that work well together may sometimes cause minor problems for their members, but as long as the group is still working reasonably well in meeting its goals, the members are most likely going to endure these minor infractions. Whenever any group begins to consistently exploit or destroy the liberty or life of its members, it is the right and duty of the members to either dissolve or restructure the association so that the individuals' original goals may be achieved more effectively.

I don't know about you, but the above sounds pretty fair to me. It mostly says that, while associating in a group can be useful, individuals don't have to participate in a group which abuses them.

Perhaps you'd prefer the following version. Its language is a little dated and far more eloquent, but still very understandable.

"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."

Would you have the courage to sign such a document and send it to your current rulers? Would you be willing to give up your life fighting for the country founded by this writing? Many of our fellow citizens did exactly that. They died so that we could have the benefits of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Take a moment today to pause in rememberance of their honor and devotion to duty.

It's a sad thought that today's society has a large number of individuals who think the second statement is irrelevant and that the possessions, time, and even the very bodies of the group members belong to the rulers of the group. Surrendering your Liberty makes the sacrifices made by the people we're supposed to remember today seem sort of meaningless, doesn't it?

Comments (2)

Missy Caulk
Missy Caulk TEAM - Ann Arbor, MI
Savvy Realtor - Ann Arbor Real Estate

Yes they gave the ultimate sacrifice, their lives. We only have to be faithful and continue to remember that Liberty is gift, however, it can be lost if we do not remember the Founding Fathers and the documents they left to sustain this Republican form of Government.

"No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation." -- General Douglas MacArthur

May 25, 2009 01:12 AM
Andrea Swiedler
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties - New Milford, CT
Realtor, Southern Litchfield County CT

Eric, that was great, I have been thinking about all the men and women who gave their lives all the way down the line from the revolutionary war until present time. Very well said. Thank you.

May 25, 2009 10:52 AM