JWL.Freakwitch.net

you say you want a revolution, well you know...

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.

I've always preferred the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution as a document of political philosophy. Indeed, after studying both texts, I found it odd how the US Constitution utterly fails to create a form of government based on the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence.

But so many people fail to see this. As a culture, as a nation, we regard the Constitution as some sort of quasi-divine document; in that regard it is almost subject to the same level of textual privilege as the Bible. But there are many problems with the Constitution.

I'm wearing black and purple today. In some way, I guess it's symbolic of the bruising America has given, and continues to give, the rest of the world. Not to mention its own people.

But today I'm working. What better way to celebrate American Freedom(tm) than to sell my labor for a 12 hour shift?

Enjoy your fireworks, America. These fireworks are almost obscene, given the number of bombs America drops on a regular basis. Boom.

posted by JWL at 2:39 PM |