The reason why 'all men are created equal' was revolutionary is because concepts like 'the monarchy' and 'the aristocracy' (circa England in the 1700s) made it seem like being born into the right family or social class is something that fetus worked hard for and earned - something they deserved. But the American revolutionaries that founded this country said: no, its not - all men are created equal, some have had the fortune of being born to rich parents and some haven't but we are going to create a society where being born into a lower class doesn't mean you'll be there forever as if you did something for which you are being punished. All men are created equal was not a bumper-sticker-esque chantable catch phrase but a completely radical notion, an affront to thousands of years of religion-based governments and kings and nobles and aristocrats. All men are created equal broke all social class laws. All men are created equal did not pretend that each man was actually born into exactly the same amount of wealth with the same opportunity - thats factually untrue, all men are not born into equal situations. All men are created equal said that the second we are born, we are all equal. We've committed no crimes, earned no honors - we are completely and exactly equal. Even this is a slightly idealistic notion because education disparities will mean that the mother may not have known to avoid alcohol or get enough vitamins or may not have taken Lamaz classes; and a child born into Kings County General Hospital (in Brooklyn) may not exactly have all the luxuries as a child born into a private hospital in the Hamptons.
But to build a government based on the radical principle that "All men are created equal" would be set a ball rolling that would try to correct thousands of years of systematic oppression. This is the basis for why 'the american dream', now a cliche used to sell us crap we don't need, was once an equally radical idea worth dying for. Its so easy to think of the Statue of Liberty as this plastic figurine that is sold for too much money at every gift shop in New York City but it was a beacon of hope, attracting people from all over the world (including my own grandparents and great grandparents from Eastern Europe) with a bold promise:
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door. ”Its so easy to forget how revolutionary this was. You can leave the country that is oppressing you based on factors that you had no control over and be free in America. Especially in the context of the America that we live in today, its easy to forget what this country was built on. All men are created equal - if it wasn't such a famously American phrase - one might get laughed at in Congress for quoting it and called a 'socialist' by the political clowns in Washington. They forget - those privileged, white millionaires that laughing call themselves our representatives - they forget that this country is literally filled with immigrants and the children of immigrants and the grand children of immigrants who came to this country based on the promise that All men are created equal. And then Herman Cain has the audacity to tell Americans to blame themselves for not having jobs or being rich?! And right wing politicians tell Americans that the notion of a government supplying basic health needs to those who can't afford to pay for it is wrong? That doesn't sound equal to me, that doesn't sound like its based on the principles of this great country - it sounds like its based on the principles that this great country was founded in OPPOSITION to: that if you were born into a poor family, that is YOUR FAULT and if you were born into a wealthy family, GOOD FOR OUR, you DESERVE IT.
If Thomas Paine and John Jay and James Madison and Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton and George Washington were alive today: where would they be standing? In the polished halls of Congress or the scattered city block at Occupy Wall St's Liberty Plaza. Would they be defending a corporation's right to spend unlimited amounts of money on those running for political office? I doubt it. I actually think the founding fathers made several warnings in their political writings (such as The Federalist Papers) that would right true to our ears right now and perhaps provide us with some guidance in these dark times. I may return to my high school days as a constitutional scholar and try to turn up some of these writings and put them here on my blog for your enjoyment.
As always offered but seldom taken up on, feedback would be appreciated: questions, comments, disagreements, counter arguments, anything.
- Mark
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