Disgraceful traits we share with the U.S.

As every school child knows the 4th of July is the date the Declaration of Independence was signed. As every adult knows, this is the time for beer, hot dogs and fireworks.

Few people know that this is one of the most eloquent political documents ever written (it is 1,200 words long) and it was authored by a man of immense intelligence and energy — Thomas Jefferson who went on to become the first Secretary of State and the third President of the United States. 

Apart from kicking out King George III and the British army, the declaration set in motion the greatest economic machine that the world has ever seen. No other system in human history has come close to the economic and political freedom it established in 1776.

The Declaration is one of the most radical documents ever written. Before 1776 the idea that people must first receive permission from their government in order to do anything in their lives was prevalent all over the world, and had been since time began.

However, in 1776, Thomas Jefferson and the signers of the Declaration, turned this notion on its head by stating that individuals are born with natural rights among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the sole purpose of the government is to secure and protect these rights.

Of course, the great and shameful exception was the position of black slaves which was only resolved by a Civil War in the 1860s, and the Indians who did not become citizens until the 1920s. 

In 1776 the founders of the United States boldly created a society allowing the maximum amount of liberty for the individual and restricting government activity to the absolute minimum.

The idea of limited government was born.  It was based on the wildest notion ever dreamed of; the signatories put the individual at the top of society, not some monarch, dictator, president, or legislative body.

The fundamental idea of the Declaration was that each individual has inherent rights that could not be taken away from him (or her) by government. As the Declaration put it “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”.

Before 1776, people in government determined what the objectives of common people were. For an individual to state that he knew what was best for him was a revolutionary act. True knowledge was the property of a priestly or aristocratic elite because the common man was an uneducated slob who was unable to determine what he really wanted, or what would bring him happiness.

In celebrating the 4th of July in 2010, the question is how has the U.S. and Bermuda done since 1776?

Let’s consider two issues that face both America and Bermuda: Government debt and freedom of the individual.

In both countries government debt is killing the economy and the future of our children.

Government debt in the U.S., according to the U.S. Treasury, is $13 trillion.  I like figures but a trillion dollars is beyond my comprehension and I am sure beyond that of 99 per cent of the population. If you spent $1 per second it would take 31,000 years to spend $1 trillion. In Bermuda the debt is lower, but at around $4 billion (including pension and medical costs) the amount of debt is staggering.

As Jefferson said, “I place the economy among the first and most important virtues and public debt as the great danger to be feared. To preserve your independence, we must not let our leaders load us with perpetual debt. We must make our choice between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude.” 

In the words of the Declaration, they have “erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance”.

They are spending money in a manner which is a disgrace to the ideals of those who signed the Declaration. George III was like Santa Claus compared with Premier Brown and President Obama. Government borrowing increases the power of politician and bureaucrats and the wealth of their cronies at the expense of taxpayers.

The American government was created to protect the liberty of its citizens. It has morphed into looking after their economic welfare — which means it does not protect the freedom of its citizens. Managing people’s lives from cradle to the grave is opposite of Declaration’s principles.

With regard to individual freedoms, it is impossible in either place for the individual to escape the dead hand of government. High taxes, deadening security at airports, corruption, stupid immigration rules, unsolved violent crimes, and a putrid educational system — the list goes on and on.

There is now no phase of life in which government is not a factor, and there are few enterprises or occupations free of its intervention.

So when the U.S. and the Bermuda Governments make soothing and hypocritical noises on the 4th about the importance of the Declaration, it is worth remembering that both have betrayed the ideals of the signers of the Declaration. 

People like Larry Burchall and Bob Richards who bemoan out of control government spending and Larry Marshall of BAD do more to keep the ideas of Thomas Jefferson alive that the bozos who occupy government offices in Bermuda and the U.S. 

Such officials are a disgrace to the ideals of the 4th of July.

That being said, enjoy the beer, hot dogs and fireworks. We may have fireworks of a different sort soon.