The Greatest Sentence Ever Written

In his latest book, Walter Isaacson says this honor goes to Thomas Jefferson’s opening to the Declaration of Independence:

“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.”

I do not agree. Why? Because it is filled with nonsense. Let’s take a deeper dive,

1) “Truths.” That word gives us the idea that all this comes down from heaven like the Ten Commandments. Better: “Some ideas about how society and government should be work.”

2) “All men are created equal.” Never mind that Jefferson is talking about landed, white, men. But that is not the worst part. All men are decidedly NOT created equal. Some “men” are born into wealth, some into poverty. Some are born with major intellectual and physical deficits. Others are born like Greek Adonis – perfect physical specimens. So birth is a random roll of the genetic dice governed by the periodic reshuffling of our DNA.

This fact is exactly why we need a strong, effective, well-funded central government. The purpose of government is to stop the smart, rich, aggressive ones from fucking over the poor and disadvantaged. It is also the role of government to make sure those very disadvantaged people get a fair shot.

3) “By their creator.” Sorry, Thom. What we know now that you didn’t: THERE IS NO CREATOR. The universe is a 13 billion year-old empty, uncaring, endless explosion of gasses that sometimes coalesce into solar systems and planets. The process is random, empty, and meaningless. The creator you mention is about as real as the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus.

So if we have any rights at all, they come entirely from other humans, i.e. governments and the philosophies that underpin them. Think about it. These rights do not come from some invisible bearded man in the sky, but from other humans. Wow. Who knew?

4) “Unalienable rights,” Whatever the hell that means. Guess you use words like that if you had a classical education. For this state university educated blogger, it is a mystery. I had to look it up. It means, you can’t be denied, or have these rights taken away.

Well, again this is total nonsense. These rights are not guaranteed, and can be taken away in a heartbeat.  For example, abortion / birthright citizenship / voting. They are given by humans and can be revoked by humans.

5) “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sounds good. The elites have all this from birth. The rest of us don’t.  That’s where government comes in. Unfortunately, with our over-the-top commitment to individualism: “Every man for himself,” “I am the master of my fate the captain of my soul,” “Up by my bootstraps,” “God helps those who help themselves,” etc, etc. we have a baked in philosophy of government that says, “Good luck, you are on your own.”

That philosophy is a great underpinning for a capitalist economic system. A more socialist economic system would adopt the African concept of, “I am because we are.”

Critical thinking is the key to a healthy society, “The things that you’re liable to read in the bible…. it ain’t necessarily so.” – Porgy and Bess.

We need more of that. With apologies to Walter Isaacson, Thomas Jefferson, and God almighty himself, I offer up my improved version of Jefferson’s “Greatest sentence ever written,”

We are building a society  that guarantees everyone will have the opportunity to live the best life they can. To this end, our new government, which gets its power from the consent of the governed, will provide these opportunities to all citizens regardless of the class, gender, or religion of their birth.

Not the greatest sentence ever written, but you get the idea. So what do I believe is the greatest sentence ever written?

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

 – Macbeth

I like this soliloquy  because it reflects the dark reality of our meaningless lives and our inevitable deaths. If our lives are without meaning, then what? We are challenged to create meaning against a backdrop of emptiness. We believe in humanity, not in God. Stories. Nature. Children. Art. Grandchildren. Creativity. Research. We wrestle with Martha Graham’s “Divine dissatisfaction.”

I love what Macbeth says, but I am making my own meaning during my brief time on this earth. Of course it is all meaningless, and I can feel satisfaction in what I do, and bring joy to the people I meet along the way.

Hopefully our government “Of the people, by the people, and for the people” will provide support for me on my journey.