ARI Op-ed on Independence

[galtgulch]

Date: Thursday, June 26, 2008 4:00 PM

From: Ayn Rand Institute Op-ed <media@aynrand.org> Add to Addresses Block Sender

To: galtgulch@charter.net Add to Addresses

Subject: Put the "Independence" Back in Independence Day

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Put the "Independence" Back in Independence Day

Jefferson and Washington fought a war for the principle of independence, meaning the moral right of an individual to live his own life as he sees fit.

To see a video version of this op-ed click this: INDEPENDENCE

By Michael S. Berliner

America's cities and towns will soon fill with parades, fireworks, and barbecues, in celebration of the Fourth of July, the 232nd birthday of America. But one hopes that the speeches will contain fewer bromides and more attention to exactly what is being celebrated. The Fourth of July is Independence Day, but America's leaders and intellectuals have been trying to move us further and further away from the meaning of Independence Day, away from the philosophy that created this country.

What we hear from politicians, intellectuals, and the media is that independence is passé, that we've reached a new age of "interdependence." We hear demands for mandatory "volunteering" to serve others, for sacrifice to the nation. We hear demands from trust-busters that successful companies be punished for being "greedy" and not serving society. But this is not the message of America. It is the direct opposite of why America became a beacon of hope for the truly oppressed throughout the world. They have come here to escape poverty and dictatorship; they have come here to live their own lives, where they aren't owned by the state, the community, or the tribe.

"Independence Day" is a critically important title. It signifies the fundamental meaning of this nation, not just of the holiday. The American Revolution remains unique in human history: a revolution--and a nation--founded on a moral principle, the principle of individual rights. Jefferson at Philadelphia, and Washington at Valley Forge, pledged their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor." For what? Not for mere separation from England, not--like most rebels--for the "freedom" to set up their own tyranny. In fact, Britain's tyranny over the colonists was mild compared to what most current governments do to their citizens.

Jefferson and Washington fought a war for the principle of independence, meaning the moral right of an individual to live his own life as he sees fit. Independence was proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence as the rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." What are these rights? The right to life means that every individual has a right to his own independent life, that one's life belongs to oneself, not to others to use as they see fit.

The right to liberty means the right to freedom of action, to act on one's own judgment, the right not to have a gun pointed at one's head and be forced to do what someone else commands. And the right to the pursuit of happiness means that an individual may properly pursue his own happiness, e.g., his own career, friends, hobbies, and not exist as a mere tool to serve the goals of others. The Founding Fathers did not proclaim a right to the attainment of happiness, knowing full well that such a policy would carry with it the obligation of others to make one happy and result in the enslavement of all to all. The Declaration of Independence was a declaration against servitude, not just servitude to the Crown but servitude to anyone. (That some signers still owned slaves does not negate the fact that they established the philosophy that doomed slavery.)

Political independence is not a primary. It rests on a more fundamental type of independence: the independence of the human mind. It is the ability of a human being to think for himself and guide his own life that makes political independence possible and necessary. The government as envisaged by the Founding Fathers existed to protect the freedom to think and to act on one's thinking. If human beings were unable to reason, to think for themselves, there would be no autonomy or independence for a government to protect. It is this independence that defines the American Revolution and the American spirit.

To the Founding Fathers, there was no authority higher than the individual mind, not King George, not God, not society. Reason, wrote Ethan Allen, is "the only oracle of man," and Thomas Jefferson advised us to "fix reason firmly in her seat and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God." That is the meaning of independence: trust in your own judgment, in reason; do not sacrifice your mind to the state, the church, the race, the nation, or your neighbors.

Independence is the foundation of America. Independence is what should be celebrated on Independence Day. That is the legacy our Founding Fathers left us. It is a legacy we should keep, not because it is a legacy, but because it is right and just. It has made America the freest and most prosperous country in history.

Michael S. Berliner is co-chairman of the board of directors of the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, Calif. The Institute promotes Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand--author of "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead."

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[BaalChatzaf]

From the original post:

Jefferson and Washington fought a war for the principle of independence, meaning the moral right of an individual to live his own life as he sees fit. Independence was proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence as the rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." What are these rights? The right to life means that every individual has a right to his own independent life, that one's life belongs to oneself, not to others to use as they see fit.

I respond:

Jefferson kept slaves all his life. Apparently they didn't have a right to their own independent life.

George Washington (accompanied by Alexander Hamilton) lead 12,000 armed federal troops to extract a quarter a barrel tax from the Pennsylvania farmers wheat and whiskey production in 1794. This was the put down of the Whiskey Rebellion. Apperenttly the farmers were not to enjoy the rewards of the time they spent in growing the wheat and distilling into a liquid product. The life of the farmers belong to themselves, abut apparently not their revenues.

Some independence that is.

True independence day occurs sometime in the month of May. All the money you earn from Jan 1 to approximately Max 15 belongs to the government. After that the money you earn belongs to you. Now that is independence.

Do you see something peculiar about this?

Ba'al Chatzaf

[tjohnson]

Not to mention that the entire continent was already occupied by "independent" people who apparently had no right to their independence either.

[Mike11]

There is ignorance and then there is lying, I would not be surprised if the ARI lacks even a high school grasp of the founding fathers but since I don't like them at all generally I'll call it lying. Like every other "opinion piece" from Bullshitters "R" Us this article makes a lot of statements without a logical progression of ideas, this is what happens when you spend your life ranting to yes men. Said lack of logic makes it hard to criticize, though I do think it wants me to feel evil and unpatriotic for questioning it. However, I am going to go out on a limb and assume a connection between a purported historic fact and a baseless assertion.

I'm assuming that "independence" in this:

Jefferson and Washington fought a war for the principle of independence, meaning the moral right of an individual to live his own life as he sees fit.

Means that Jefferson opposed this:

We hear demands from trust-busters that successful companies be punished for being "greedy" and not serving society.

Though I may be wrong, the whole op-ed seems based on implication and unspoken argumentation. Anyway,

Jefferson is widely regarded as suspicious and distrusting of big business and would likely have had some harsh words concerning the financial corruption, support of international tyranny and off shore tax filing many of the Great Galt-like Gods among Untermensch are known for.

"I hope we shall crush ... in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country"

Sigh. The ARI once again seeks to mythologize American history as Objectivist history. A cursory glance at history shows this to be problematic. Does the ARI seem to do any research on anything ever? Nope.

Hey, that was one hell of a shoddy argument I just made. Almost ARI worthy.