The first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, made public on July 4, 1776, refers to the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” The second paragraph of the document starts with these words: ”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, -.”
On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln began his Gettysburg Address by saying, “ Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 members of the Second Continental Congress that met in Philadelphia during the summer of 1776. President Lincoln reminded the world in his Gettysburg Address that equality of all people is a living concept. The foundation of the United States is that we are all created equal. Men and women in this country by birth or immigration have equal opportunity for success. And of even greater import is that everyone has the gift of defining their own success.
What are the sources of perceived inequality, and how is it illustrated? If it is earnings and there is evidence of ethical, legal or moral problems, why hasn’t it been solved long ago? If the perceived problem of inequality is opportunity, who is at fault?
As shown above, our government over the first 87 years was fully aware of this endowment of equality for all. We enjoy legal protection from discrimination by race, gender, handicap status, religion and ethnicity. President Roosevelt in his State-of-the-Union address in 1941 outlined four essential human rights; Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear.
Parents, schoolteachers, clergy, employers, books, media and peers play a role in the development of individual success or failure. This is because equal opportunity is available at birth or immigration, but boys and girls become productive men and women by their heritage, their environment but mostly by their own initiative.
Our government, by its skewed initiatives of entitlements discriminates by removing individualism and self-determination and transforming government into the ‘nanny state’. Government pays people to not work, to not get married, to not go to school, to depend on government for the whole bundle of basics; food, shelter and clothing.
In our currently growing form of government, we reward errant behavior by subsidizing a steady stream of babies of single mothers. In lieu of financing pre-natal, post-natal and childcare, we also underwrite abortion on demand. Abortion is outsourced so that ultra-smart government officials don’t have their fingers directly on the levers of infanticide and thus escape the tinge of accountability.
In an interview with Bill O’Reilly on Superbowl Sunday Mr. Obama was asked about the 72% of out-of-wedlock births in the Black community. Obama’s response was that he had spoken out about it many times. The President still believes problems can be solved with speeches instead of actions.
Does the baby born of a single mom have the same chance for success as the child born of a committed man and woman? How about the baby born of a Native American mother? Native Americans have been victims of the nanny state for more than a century and these noble patriots have a high incidence of chronic disease, alcoholism and poverty subsidized by government handouts.
To eliminate perceived and actual inequality, the government must assure every person that we are born into equality, that we have legally mandated equal opportunity, that we must exercise the right and obligation to participate in learning and training and become productive members of society. Government should help fill the gap between bad luck and a good job and the chasm between serious illness and good health.
While government plants money trees throughout the U.S., the harvest should be reaped by those who are enrolled in the course entitled ‘The American Dream.’
– Dick Baynton
