Dangerous Words

In this country it would be hard to find someone who doesn’t know these words.

“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.”

But the Declaration of Independence continues with what many governments must consider the most dangerous words ever written.

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

On December 17, 2010 a Tunisian street vendor set himself on fire in protest.[1] The middle east exploded. Within weeks Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was forced from power and fled the country after 23 years as president. By the second week in February Hosni Mubarak was forced out of power in Egypt after 29 years as president.

Protests continue in Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. In Libya Moammar al-Gaddafi has unleashed civil war in his attempt to hold onto power.

Today, few in the middle east know the words, but they accept without question that it is the Right of the People to a government responsive to their needs. It all started with Thomas Jefferson over 200 years ago.