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.
These truths may be self-evident, but they do not defend or protect themselves. It is up to those who value them to do that. The fifty-six men who signed the Declaration that contains these words on this day in 1776 knew that, and thus “for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence,” they mutually pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.
Now 238 years later, after enjoying the fruits of their sacrifice for so long, and enjoying comfort and ease on an unfathomable scale, we find that many, if not most, take these rights, and the principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, for granted, as if they were always, everywhere, and automatically part of the human birthright. But this is no more the case now than it was in 1776. In fact, today the republic they founded, much mutated and far less free than it was at its birth, faces a strong global challenge to the principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed — a challenge from a determined and ruthless enemy that would love nothing more than to deprive us of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Meanwhile, the allies and tools of this determined enemy are determined to deprive of their fortunes and sacred honor, if not of their very lives, those who dare to stand up and try to warn their fellow countrymen about this threat, and skillfully spread misinformation and disinformation about it far and wide through the mainstream media, academia, government, law enforcement and entertainment industry, all of which they largely control.
And so we stand a point where it is a very real possibility that we will indeed lose our lives and our liberties, and live in a state where the pursuit of happiness is but a dim memory at best.
It is up to us, then, now to emulate these 56 men, and pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor anew to the defense of these great rights and this cardinal principle. The hour is very late. If we do not do this, we or our children will certainly lose them, and the world will be plunged into a darkness that could last centuries.
But if we find people in sufficient numbers who are willing to take the great risk these 56 made, there is no possibility that we can fail, for what we stand for is light against darkness, truth against falsehood, freedom against slavery.
The great question now is, will we find such people in sufficient numbers?
Happy Independence Day.