Remember when Jack Nicholson played the part of the Colonel Jessep, as Tom Cruise cross examines him, in the movie "A Few Good Men" and Tom gets Jack heated to a point where the Colonel loses his temper screaming “You can’t handle the truth!” Tom was grilling him over a soldiers apparent accidental death asking the Colonel for the truth stating that we as a society deserve at least that.
A well written piece. Still, a point worth articulating is this; The words in the declaration that spoke of equality were impossible even as they were being uttered. Agrarian capitalism, and mercantilism, had come to predominate and already had set the many against the few. Industrial capitalism, which began its rise in the last 1/2 to 1/3 of the 18th century and was taking root, preceded the establishment of the United States, and rendered the considerations of equality in the declaration impossible. There were other things that acted similarly; slavery, treatment of indigenous populations, women's non-rights, etc. If those latter had been eliminated the framework of industrial capitalism would have, on its own, created an unequal gulf between capitalists and labor.
Randall, I appreciate your chiming in. You are so correct with your point. When I placed in italics the caveat that all, or shall I say many, of the founding fathers who wrote that all men are created equal were also slave owners, it was the insinuation of just that juxtaposition, the irony, the hypocrisy. The scary part of this is that we now have a system and congressional staff that is willing to take our Constitution back to this point in time. My point that it pays to be a rich white man is another line I used to make this point…I am saddened by the lack of character growth our society holds with those whom choose to take power. Why is it that the masses allow the crazies to rule? Since the dawn of time there has been a gulf between capitalism and labor. The growth of the human condition is to recognize this and to rise above, not maintain. We as a species still have a lot to learn.
A well written piece. Still, a point worth articulating is this; The words in the declaration that spoke of equality were impossible even as they were being uttered. Agrarian capitalism, and mercantilism, had come to predominate and already had set the many against the few. Industrial capitalism, which began its rise in the last 1/2 to 1/3 of the 18th century and was taking root, preceded the establishment of the United States, and rendered the considerations of equality in the declaration impossible. There were other things that acted similarly; slavery, treatment of indigenous populations, women's non-rights, etc. If those latter had been eliminated the framework of industrial capitalism would have, on its own, created an unequal gulf between capitalists and labor.
Randall, I appreciate your chiming in. You are so correct with your point. When I placed in italics the caveat that all, or shall I say many, of the founding fathers who wrote that all men are created equal were also slave owners, it was the insinuation of just that juxtaposition, the irony, the hypocrisy. The scary part of this is that we now have a system and congressional staff that is willing to take our Constitution back to this point in time. My point that it pays to be a rich white man is another line I used to make this point…I am saddened by the lack of character growth our society holds with those whom choose to take power. Why is it that the masses allow the crazies to rule? Since the dawn of time there has been a gulf between capitalism and labor. The growth of the human condition is to recognize this and to rise above, not maintain. We as a species still have a lot to learn.