What are America’s Core Values? Pt 1

Since lately it appears that nobody, and I mean NOBODY gives a rat’s ass about our Constitution, I thought I’d ask my faithful reader (my cat) what he thought about it. As it turns out, he had a lot to say.

Doc, he said, I don’t believe for a minute that this great Republic is faltering, as some would have us believe. But I do think we, as a nation, have gotten away from our core values.  I asked him what he meant by core values, and, of all places he directed me to the National Park Service.  Core values are those values that we, as a nation, hold firm to and form the foundation upon which our country is founded.  These initial core values are found in the Declaration of Independence, and include…

1. That all men are created equal.  The intent is that all human beings are created equal.
2. Endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
3. Governments are instituted among Men to secure these rights.
4. Governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed, and it is the Right of the governed to alter or abolish it and to institute a new government that shall seem more likely to affect their safety and happiness.

I looked at my cat, what was he trying to tell me?  Core values to me have always been Honor, Courage & Commitment, Aye!  He looked at me very sternly and said no…

• What Jefferson meant by his statement that “all men are created equal” is that people are of equal moral worth, and as such deserve equal treatment under the law.  “Equal” has been continuously redefined as Amendments have been passed modifying our Constitution.  
• What is meant by “they are endowed by their creator with unalienable Rights.”  Their is a belief in the notion that there is a grand creator of the universe, who created us all, and as such we are all created equal. Unalienable rights are those rights that cannot be taken away, but are those rights granted to us by our creator.
• Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  I believe “pursuit of Happiness” means that each individual has the freedom to use their time, talent and resources to pursue the directions in life that they believed would bring them the most satisfaction (but it doesn’t stop there, it goes on), and would benefit their family, friends, fellow man and future generations the most. Being a citizen is not a free ride; we have obligations.  We each have an obligation to our family, friends and fellow man to be productive and useful.  How is being unproductive, sucking from the government coffers and doing destructive things (which harm our families, friends and fellow man) being a good citizen?  How does a person acquire a feeling of self-worth if they just take?  What can be done to change this type of behavior?
• The purpose of government is to secure for it’s citizens their inalienable rights (Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness).  The state of nature is characterized not by life, liberty, and happiness, but by violent death, slavery, and misery.  Because of this (and so that they can enjoy their rights in peace) people set up governments.  When people set up a government, they must give up some of the power they had in the state of nature. For instance, we, as a people give up the right to punish wrongdoers and pass that right to the government.  One surrenders liberty conditionally: we give some of it to government, in the condition that government secures our rights. In another example, one surrenders a portion of their property for the greater protection (taxes that to to pay for judges and for national defense).
• The people (the governed) give our consent to be governed.  Just because the system is out of whack does not allow us to push the reset button.  We, the governed have to re-stake our claim on our government, and tell them, in no uncertain terms what rights we are willing to surrender, and what we expect from them in return.  If they are unwilling, they do not get re-elected, that is how we (these United States) institute a new government.

Anarchy is not the answer, neither is a full blown democracy.  We are a Representative Republic for a reason; we are not a Democracy.  The trickle down theory isn’t working so well right now, maybe it’s time for some “trickle up” theory?  Focus on good local representatives, ones that will put the locality / state government ahead of the party, then maybe we can start getting some of these blowhards out of Congress.

In summary, as my cat explained it to me, our national core values are…

• All people should have equal rights under the law.
• Each person has a right to self-worth, and the dignity that one acquires by contributing to one’s community and pursuits greater than self-gratification.
• In exchange of some of our rights, we expect our government to function in a manner to protect us and use the rights we have surrendered to them appropriately.
• Men are not angels, nor are they rational.  When those in power over the governed put their self interest above the interest of the governed, they are no longer fit to govern, and should be removed, peacefully.

My faithful companion has given me a lot to think about, I think I’ll listen to a hip-hop version of the Declaration of Independence and do some pondering.

This is the first in a 5 part series on America and our values. Stay tuned for more on the Constitution (The Constitution and Declaration of Independence are joined at the hip so to speak), the Bill of Rights and the various Amendments.  Till next time, be safe out there.