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 shown, 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. —from The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
The “Political Bands” we postmodern Americans must now dissolve is the corrupt-to-the-core, corporate-owned two-party system. Voting for Kerry, or Bush, will not address this basic need for a major political overhaul. By the way, if Nader had 15% in the polls today, they would have let him participate in the Presidential debates, or so they say. For those Dems who think progressives like myself should throw our vote to Kerry, I have this to say, “The guy does not speak to me. My concerns are not being heard, nor voiced.” Yet you demand that I lend my support to such a person, for to do otherwise will destroy America even further in your estimate. No, what’s destroying America is bigger than Bush. MUCH BIGGER. If we realized, as a people, just how much bigger “IT” is, we would demand better for ourselves and our children’s future. We would back an honest citizen for office and turn this into a real race.