“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.”
In two sentences, Thomas Jefferson distilled two centuries of Enlightenment Philosophy.
The truths of which he speaks are, according to Jefferson, so fundamental and not needing explanation as to be self-evident.
It is self-evident that there is a “Creator”
It is self-evident that humans are endowed by that Creator with unalienable rights, meaning that man cannot take them away, as they come from God.
It is self-evident that these rights begin with the most fundamental of all-Life.
It is self-evident that the next two follow in logical sequence: Liberty, and then the Pursuit of Happiness.
It is self-evident that the role of government is to protect those three greatest rights.
It is self-evident that the people reserve the right to alter or abolish that government if it becomes destructive of those rights.
We have seriously lost our way.
November 2012 is coming.