The American Paradox

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…

The opening lines to the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence define what it means to be an American. That all of us are created equal and are entitled to rights that are protected by the Government that operates at the consent of us, The People. It was written by an enslaver, Thomas Jefferson.

This is the American Paradox. Our freedom and liberty comes, and has always come, at the expense of others. Namely Black and Brown Americans and Women. The travesty of modern America is that many still cling to the ideal of White Male Supremacy, as though including others in equality before the law is somehow encroaching upon individual freedom and liberty. 

It is undeniable that at the time of writing “all men are created equal” only meant White, Male, and owning property to the founders. This was consistent with the prevailing worldview where everyone else was considered a second class citizen, if considered a person at all. 

What we see in today’s political climate is an effort to return to this worldview. The GOP has convinced a large portion of working class Americans that things like DEI initiatives, women’s rights, and rights of marginalized people are a direct attack on their freedom and liberty. This fear is then used to stoke those voters to vote directly against their own personal interests. Nothing about the current economic realities or outlooks benefit these average Americans. In fact, they are doing incredible harm to their ability to live a financially secure life. 

The GOP conned them into voting for white supremacy disguised as “safeguarding their liberty”. And for the hateful racists who voted for and cheered on hoping for a return to antebellum era hierarchical stratification, they are not the white, male, property owning group the GOP is trying to enrich. Trump and Co. are using their racist ideals to leave them behind with the same groups of people they think they are better than. To be nothing more than a disposable labor resource with which to enrich themselves. 

To be blunt, the retention of the idea that freedom and liberty is dependent on the marginalization of “the other” should be seen as unequivocally un-American. 

This Nation has demonstrated a great capacity for societal change. We ended slavery in the face of being told it would mean the end of the American Experiment. We created a social safety net in the wake of the depression caused by the unregulated rich. We said that all couples, straight or gay, had the right to marry. This is just to name a few, and each time there were loud voices screaming that the change would mean the end of America as we knew it. But that was the fucking point. America as we knew it no longer served the realities of our society, so change was needed. Just like in the 1760’s when the founders realized that the colonies as they knew it needed to change in order to fit their burgeoning society. Enacting change, radical change, to serve the needs of its people is what it means to be American. 

We are duly obligated as a nation to recognize this American Paradox of inequality masquerading as freedom and to enact “radical” change to bring it in line with a modern worldview. Just as our founders did.

If the Constitution is a living document, able to be amended and changed in order to serve the needs of a changing society, then so too should the Declaration be. Though it may not have been originally written as inclusive of all humans, in today’s day and age the only morally correct interpretation, that is in the interest of every American, is every single person in this nation is created equally and afforded the same rights. The tenets of what it meant to be American were written in line with what the current worldview at the time meant. It only serves as logical that as the world view changes, that definition changes with it. Therefore, clinging to white supremacy is un-American. I will die on this hill. 

— The People. Of, By, and For