Gongol.com Archives: July 2025
July 4, 2025
Independence Day is the year every good American should re-read the Declaration of Independence in its entirety: At around 1,300 words, it's shorter than some people take to share a sourdough recipe on their cooking blogs. ■ The Declaration is worth an annual re-reading if for no other reason than to remind us that the most important word between a person and their government is the word "No". Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Livingston, and Sherman didn't draft a statement complaining of material things they wanted from England. They instead wrote mainly of things the Royal government did to them, unjustly, which they wanted to stop. ■ It's a laundry list that remains easy to read in plain English even today: "He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power." "He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither". "He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people." "For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world". "For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences". ■ The very first Congress had one word in mind above all others: "No." The government in power was doing them wrong, and they withdrew their consent. Government doesn't exist to extend the benefits of the privileged. "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed", to secure "certain unalienable Rights", including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". ■ Security means saying "no" to those who would take those things away. It means saying "no" to behavior that echoes the offenses of King George III. And it means unapologetically saying "no" to encroachments on life, liberty, and the treasured pursuit of happiness.
