“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...”
Democracy (republicanism) is actually very rare in history; frankly, it still is in many places in the world. And even previous “democracies” were limited, at best. Greek Periclean democracy was only for males, citizens, and certainly not for the myriad of slaves owned by the Greeks. No, for most of humanity, for most of human history, our species has lived in hierarchical societies—kings, nobles, peasants—where people were definitely not equal, where democracy was scorned, and where you did what you were told because, well, your “lord” told you to and you always obeyed your “lord.” Hierarchy, not egalitarianism. That was the lot of nearly everybody on this earth for most of human history.
Do you know who changed that? The men who founded America—Jefferson, Madison, Washington, et al. Do you know who is trying to change it BACK to the way it was before? Leftists and the Democratic Party in the United States (and their ilk, Biden, Pelosi, Soros, Gates, the WEF, etc.). That is the great political battle we are facing today.
When Jefferson wrote in the American Declaration of Independence that “We hold these truths to be self-evident...”, he was starting a revolution—the true American Revolution. For in 1776, nothing could be LESS self-evident than that “all men were created equal” and given certain natural rights by their Creator. Human history, in 1776 and before, was, as noted, hierarchical, not egalitarian. Jefferson, et al, would have been laughed out of every governmental court in the world. “Equality of man? Self-evident? To whom? Jefferson, you are trying to tell us that peasants are equal to kings and nobles??” Yes, that is exactly what Jefferson and our Founders were telling the world: there are ways in which all people are indeed equal and none are “better” than any others.
Now, what Jefferson meant by “all men are created equal” needs another column to explain, and is certainly far from what modern man, especially Leftists, say he meant. But one of his major meanings (as he goes on to say in the Declaration) is—nobody is born with a right to rule anybody else! People choose their rulers, and can remove them, and those rulers have only the rights the people give them, not visa-versa. We in America today have 250 years of this thinking behind us. It is now second nature to most of us, it’s just “truth”. Yes, indeed, it IS “self-evident” to us. But in 1776, it was revolutionary. It turned the world upside down. It was the opposite of what the vast majority of humanity believed and had lived under for nearly all of human history. This is the “American Revolution,” and it swept the world. And it is HATED by modern Leftists, including the Democratic Party of America.
Now, I do want to point out, that our Founders didn’t create this doctrine in a vacuum. They were, as all of us are, the products of history. “Democracy” is a Greek word; “republic” is Latin (Roman). John Ball, in England’s Peasant Revolt of 1381, concocted this little ditty: “When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then a gentleman (noble)?” In other words, God created men equal; God didn’t create kings and nobles, He created human equality (incidentally, poor John got a “suspended sentence” for his political heresy). So, no, Jefferson and Madison didn’t invent “all men are created equal.” What they did was become the first nation, in thousands of years—maybe ever—to make it the foundation of their political system. They built America upon these “self-evident” truths. And much of the world—not all—followed. Why do you think so many people came to America to escape the hierarchical, totalitarian hellholes they lived in? People didn’t try to immigrate to China or Iran.
But sadly, those who immigrate to America now are coming to a country where the largest political party is attempting to return the United States to pre-1776. To give Americans the very hierarchical oppression so many people have tried to escape the past 250 years, and are still trying to escape. They won’t keep coming if the Democrats ultimately win.
One of the major mistakes Leftists make—perhaps THE major mistake—is that they judge all previous peoples by their, 2024 standard (a standard which will likely change very shortly). Our Founding Fathers, Christopher Columbus, Greeks, Romans, slavery, the Catholic Church—none of these in history measure up to what Leftists NOW think is utopian. And thus, Leftists believe they have a right to reject, overthrow, and overturn everything earlier generations did. And that is exactly their goal and design.
Nothing could be more unjust than this cardinal mantra of modern-day Leftism (the Democratic Party included). 1776 is not 2024. The men living at that time could only look at history from before 1776 and draw their conclusions and make their judgments based on that, not on modern, 2024 standards. They didn’t grow up in our world and they cannot be held accountable for any failings WE don’t approve of. They lived in a hierarchical system (which included slavery); that is what they had to deal with. Pre-1776, worldwide, people did what they were told by their government and by their “lord” or king. They never even questioned it. The nobles were “better” than them.
And that is EXACTLY what modern Leftists (Democrats) believe and want to return America and the world to. Theirs is nothing but a revolution to overthrow the great American revolution of 1776. “We rule. You obey.” A return to hierarchy.
To modern Leftists, it is no longer “self-evident” that “all men are created equal.” Stalin, Hitler, and Mao didn’t believe that and neither did Democrats. And you had better obey your “lords”. The two-tiered justice system in America today is full evidence of that.
Are you watching my “Rise of Leftism” historical survey on my substack mklewis929.substack.com? You don’t want to miss it or more articles on Leftism, our Founding Fathers, and true freedom, along with Biblical studies. Follow me on Twitter: @thailandmkl. Read my Western novels, Whitewater, River Bend, Return to River Bend, and Allie’s Dilemma all available on Amazon.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member