The Process of Independence
Jul 5th, 2009 by Timothy Pancoast
For a nation, to gain independence is a process. For America, the beginning of that process was signified by the Declaration of Independence on July 4th 1776. Yet, Frederick Douglass reminded America that its independence was not yet complete on July 4th 1854, when he was asked to speak at the commemoration of the Declaration of Independence in New York. He said:
“Fellow citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?
“Would to God, for both your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions!
…
“But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me….”
Frederick Douglass said many other things on this occasion to remind us that the task of securing liberty in America was not yet complete. Signing the Declaration of Independence signaled the beginning of our nation’s struggle for freedom and equality, not its end. He was a part of the inspiration for the Civil War and the latter adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to our Constitution.
Yet even after these two great battles for independence and these great documents which declare and define freedom for the people of America there are still Americans who can echo the words of Frederick Douglass, that “The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me.” Worse yet the “fathers” of many Americans have failed to bequeath such an inheritance on their children, and even robbed them of it where they would have otherwise been its beneficiaries.
Some states have issued apologies for the slavery which Frederick Douglass and others sought to overcome. The Dover Human Relations Commission would have Delaware do the same. While their hearts and good intentions have steered them in the right general direction I think they miss a greater and more pressing problem that faces us today. That freedom and independence is still not available to all in this nation. There are many classes of people living here today that lack the freedom and independence which has been obtained for others. Is it not a little hypocritical of us to apologize for the sins of our fathers which we can not pay the price for, when we have yet to acknowledge, face, and attempt to reconcile the sins that are occurring today? I feel that if we wish to successfully do something about the mote that was in the eyes of our forefathers we must do something about the beam in our own eyes.
What is this beam? Who are these people that still do not enjoy full freedom and benefit of the Declaration of Independence and the 13th Amendment? There are several groups of these people some small and others vast in numbers.
First they include the illegal immigrant, who is living here and working here, yet due to their ignoring our laws they do not and can not fairly enjoy equal freedom with us. The illegal immigrant may feel that they are obtaining what they seek by coming here to work, or just live undocumented, however in the process an inequality of independence is created. While there is a vast difference between undocumented labor, and slavery there is also an eerie similarity to the way an illegal immigrant is used for labor and how slaves were used for labor. In both cases the land owner did not want the worker to achieve their full potential. They merely wanted them to do a lot of work at little cost. The liberty, justice, and prosperity of both groups were curtailed by the system of labor they found themselves in. Just because the illegal immigrant, for whatever reason, chooses this life does not mean that a nation which declares independence can condone it.
Next, though scattered and few there are yet to this day reports of slavery in this nation, as well as the kidnapping of our citizens to be used as slaves in other nations. Several of these cases involve illegal immigrants, a class that is often doubly hurt by their status.
Third we must consider the children of this nation. Through generational theft we have institutionalized the kind of indentured servitude which the 13th Amendment forbids. The fact is, with our nation’s mounting debt every fetus in the womb already has a tax bill that is growing and waiting for them the moment they begin to earn a pay check. They will spend years of their lives paying for our excess. Everyone from the poor in this nation to the rich has taken part in placing this burden on the backs of our children, which they will pay for in taxes. They did not volunteer for this they will not receive benefit from us for these taxes. At least in the revolutionary and civil wars, when our nation incurred debts it was to secure liberty and other blessings for current and future generations. In our day the debt is often to feed our greed, our whims, and desires. Is this not a form of involuntary servitude and did not our 13th Amendment ban such practice along with slavery?
It was not uncommon in colonial times for a family to sell one or more of their children under a bill of indenture for a period of time in order to pay of debts, or to overcome their poverty. Is it better that in our day we use government bonds sold to corporations, wealthy investors, China, and other nations in order to use the labor of future generations to pay for our excess? We are putting off paying our bills until our children can help pay them for us. They did not volunteer for this; they couldn’t, because they were not old enough to vote for the people who wrote the legislation allowing it. We, on the other hand, are old enough to vote. We allowed our debts to be put onto the backs of the next generation. En masse we are selling our children to pay off our debt without their permission, but as long as the working conditions are okay I guess involuntary servitude isn’t that bad. As long as it will happen in the future and not now we can live with it. We have perpetuated injustice. Perhaps our fathers did the same, but that is no more an excuse for us to continue a practice that is wrong than it was for slave owners to continue that wrong practice.
As a final caution about what we are doing to the rising generations in this nation I refer to the words of Deanna Barker of Frontier Resources, a division of the National Association for Interpretation, which deals with historical reenactments. “Wherever you find slavery, you first find indentures.” We may have dressed our indentures up with better style and different terminology than previous generations, but we are still doing it. We must beware of what history has shown may follow.
When we look at the Independence of America on July 4th, and any day, let us remember that it is a work in progress. We have the same responsibility as our founders did to seek the achievement of that goal in its fullness.
Note: I apologize that this is late. I had a very fulfilling 4th of July, but only brief moments of it were near a computer. I have spent some time considering the ideas I have expressed in this post, but this will be my first time putting them forth to others for examination. I recognize that it is fairly long and covers a lot of ground, yet I welcome your input on any areas that interest you.
Is one generation bound by the promises of another? Suppose they set up a second currency and inflate the dollar into oblivion. 65 to 99 Trillion in unfunded liabilities is a lot of money. I wonder if there is a solution.
David, whether that is the case or not we have been living as if it were true for some time now when it comes to passing on debt to the next generation. As such the burden placed on future generations is growing exponentially, and I fear that their ability to pay back those promises is being hampered at the same time. If we do not find an adequate solution in time I have warned that a potential outcome is slavery, another is war. These are not the outcomes I desire so I am trying to raise awareness of the potential dangers and work on small things that will be beneficial reguardless of whether I am correct or not. Even if people dissagree that generational theft is a violation of the 13th Amendment it is still a problem.
If there is any validity to my opinion that generational theft is not just a campaign slogan, or a joke, but also unconstitutional, then I am willing to work with interested parties to move forward legislation that will help correct this inequity between generations. Unfortunatly, because any solution will require that at least some of the burdens we have shrugged off be returned to us, the passage of such legislation is improbable.
It may also be a matter that can be taken to the Supreme Court though it would also take a great deal of effort to do so. It is my understanding that I can not directly bring suite against my country (a primary culprit in this matter) so there are a lot of legal and strategic details that would need to be worked out in order to pursue that route.
I think that there are personal and legal efforts that can be made to help solve this problem, and I have begun trying to work towards them.
A major legislative goal could be to place a new restriction on government spending that would prevent the budget from exceeding what citizens of currently of voting age could afford under the current taxes to pay in their projected lifetime. Also finding a viable method of preventing anyone from being forced to pay taxes for debt incured before they reached voting age would help.
Alternatively I would settle for something like mandating balanced federal budgets, closing then eliminating the deficit, and paying down the national debt to something like 1929 levels or about 2% of GDP. That would be a great end goal to me and could solve the problem of generational theft without directly addressing it. I realize that it would take time and would likely be far harder than I can comprehend at this time. Therefore I would love to see alternative suggestions for a full or partial solution.
I am also open to suggestions that may be more practical.
We are back on road to Dependence. Record debt, record deficits and more to come.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-05-28-debt_N.htm
Mike Protack
Timothy, great read! I enjoyed your work here. Excelent points. You are a skilled writer.
I do have a few suggestions and I also have an objection to the context in which you used the phrase “freedom and equality.”
Check your email, I will explain there.
David, one other comment about being bound by the promises of another. California is in the process of giving us a preview of what can happen if/when one generation decides that it either can not or will not pay for the debts of another. Californians had the ability through the process of referendum to refuse the tax increases that its legislature proposed (an ability which Delaware still lacks). They exersized that legal authority and turned down their states demands for yet more money, in the form of taxes and fees, to pay for its excess. Look at what is happening. The state is issuing IOU’s in lieu of payment for many of its debts and expenses. The federal government is looking to take action and possibly seize the federal parks from California, and all sorts of other chaos. Imagine if rather than a state and its nation this was our whole country and China, or Russia. They may be patient at first but eventually they wouldn’t be nearly so easy as our nation is being on California.
Mike, I agree. Rather than continue the process of securing a complete independence many Americans have reversed course. You could say that they make up, or soon will a fourth group which our Declaration of Independence does not fully apply to.
Daniel, thanks for the compliments and for the email. To clarify, in using the phrase “freedom and equality” I meant to refer to equal liberty and justice. Beyond that our individual choices will determine our standing with other people.
Many Americans are spoiled rotten and spit on the flag. Most of our professional political parasites are corrupt. Many people, even whole demographic groups, are accustomed to being wards of the state. We are broke.
This has happened before, throughout history; and the outcome is usually unpleasant.