Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“If for no other reason, the 250-year-old Declaration of Independence deserves adoration for its invocation of each individual’s rights to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ The significance of that phrase, which overshadows everything else in Thomas Jefferson’s composition (it clarifies the meaning of ‘all men are created equal’), cannot be exaggerated. Unfortunately, those words are so familiar—which should have been a good thing—that they long ago blended with the landscape. By and large, people have stopped noticing it and lack appreciation for it. Unlike in the 1700s, it has become a cliché.” (07/03/26)