Our country’s Declaration of Independence is a curious document. Often cited as though it were the foundation of our laws, it is nothing of the sort. It is, in essence, a propaganda sheet, an attempt to sway American colonists to join the movement for separation. Nonetheless, it is still valuable in explicating our values, and, for that reason, worth studying in great depth.
Another reason to study the Declaration is that it is one of the most carefully constructed of our country’s founding documents. Written by one of early America’s true renaissance men, proofed and re-written by another polymath, along with one of the colonies’ premier lawyers, it was created so meticulously so that its meanings would never be obscure. So much so that scholars have pored over its details for centuries, parsing its intents down to the last, possibly missing, period.
With that in mind, I wanted to briefly discuss the document’s best known passage in light of our present circumstances. That passage, of course, is:
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.
Mssrs. Jefferson, Franklin and Adams primary, first-mentioned “self-evident” truth is that all are equal. That the rights endowed them by their Creator are so endowed equally is also self-evident. You have these rights; I have them in exactly equal measure.
The order in which those rights are enumerated is certainly purposeful in a document so carefully constructed. Thus, we may assume that our right to simply remain alive is primary, however “unalienable” our rights to be free and pursue happiness may be.
This year, a novel virus has spread through the world, threatening that most basic right to Life. With such an existential threat hanging over us until reliable vaccines can be manufactured and distributed to 70% or so of our population, the primacy of that first listed right could not be clearer.
While we may wish the Liberty to, say, fly to Kauai, whether or not we’re positive for the virus, others’ right to remain alive trumps that liberty. One person’s greatest Happiness may lie in attending worship services or holiday parties or pep rallies but, by the Founders’ logic, those sources of happiness may have to be postponed, so that others may enjoy their right to breathe.
To repeat: the Declaration is not the foundation of our country’s laws, any of them. The Constitution is, and the relation between the two is like the difference between the “Serving Suggestion” picture on the packaging of a frozen meal and what appears on your table when it’s taken out and cooked.
But even if that document were the law of the land, its authors made abundantly clear that the Rights they list are prioritized, and that the right to remain alive is paramount.
Simply put, my right to continue breathing beats your right to toss a dead fish in a bar hollow.
Happy to clear that up, patriots.