Open Left

Well, Sort Of... (4.00 / 1)

While this is basically:

And make no mistake: the ideas we take for granted today were truly radical in 1776. Before our revolution, every country on earth was ruled by some kind of king and aristocracy. Ideas like democracy and equality were shocking and terrifying to the conservatives of the day.

This is pushing things too far:

But in Jefferson's stunning opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, he blew away thousands of years of assumptions about government - the divine right of kings, citizens owing obedience to whatever government they lived under, adherence to tradition, rule by aristocracy.

The ruling assumptions had been repeatedly questioned for centuries before Jefferson wrote those words.  What distinguished Jefferson's words was that they were in a political document proclaiming the birth of a new polity (not yet determined to be a single nation).  He was drawing on a long line of previously developed liberal thought, which in turn echoed the earlier development of republicanism in early modern Europe, which in turn drew on classical republicanism.

It's important to recall these earlier traditions for a variety of reasons--including the recognition that we're involved in a struggle that's thousands of years old.  America represents a singular development in the history of that struggle, a "great leap forward" if you will.  But that is no guarantee of anything.  As the old saying goes, "Freedom is a constant struggle."


"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 10:08:30 AM CDT