The French Revolution of 1789 was actually inspired by the American Revolution of 1776. By 1787, the United States of America had drafted the U.S. Constitution. It was not based on reason; it was based upon unalienable rights granted by a Creator. The Founding Fathers of the United States did not rely solely on man’s intellect to guide the generations. There were eternal principles by which they were bound as a people.
The French should have followed the precedents of our Constitution. Their newly established republic, based on the collective wisdom of man, soon collapsed into a new government led by Napoleon Bonaparte. They exchanged a king for an emperor.
The United States continued to be a great moral influence on the leaders of France. In the 1870s,
Edouard de Laboulaye proposed that a monument be built to commemorate the relationship between the United States and France during the American Revolutionary War. As an abolitionist, Laboulaye was most impressed with the American President Abraham Lincoln. They chose a design that became the Statue of Liberty. He hoped in this gesture that America would influence the people of France to embrace a commitment for freedom for all people. The French gifted Lady Liberty to the United States in 1886.
In the overthrow of their government in 1789, the French missed the point. By worshiping the Goddess of Reason, and therefore trusting the limits of their own wisdom, they failed in their vision. The people of the American colonies overthrew the government imposed upon them, and trusted eternal principles based upon unalienable rights endowed by their Creator. They prospered in their vision.
There is a revolution going on in American politics in 2016. There is a distrust of government institutions. There is a lack of confidence in elected officials. There is a growing anxiety that, beyond incompetency, elected officials are corrupt.
The establishment, those in control and power, dwell in the denial that people will allow them to continue to serve their elitist purposes. They have nobody but themselves to blame. By any measurable metric of success, they are failing the people in both results and in partnership.
By what right do the people declare that an outsider like Donald Trump is acceptable to provide new leadership?
Let us revisit the words of the Declaration of Independence.
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 –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 Power in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness
The movement emerging from the grassroots today is the “New Liberty Coalition.” Their message is: no more business as usual. They are anti-establishment. They are outsiders, looking for outside-the-system leadership. Just as the colonists in the 1700s accepted from the writings of Thomas Paine, business as usual will end badly. They believe it must stop now. The people’s point of tolerance has been passed.
If government is to be changed, and changed dramatically, then the anger of the electorate must be led by a moral intent and purpose to a just destination. This purpose must be to provide a better life for the generations, our children and grandchildren. It must not be for the selfish purposes of our own time and our own generation. Reform is necessary. Restructuring will be required. Sacrifice will be mandated. The security and prosperity of our future is worth the price.
To hold truths to be self-evident, we as a people must determine the validity, the nature, and the substance of these truths. The Goddess of Reason is not our light. The unalienable rights endowed by our Creator represented by the light of our Lady of Liberty, is that in which we must trust.
There is a confidence and a call that comes with relying upon faith. Following the Revolutionary War, when challenged to explain why the colonies had undertaken the great risk of declaring independence, the Founding Fathers settled on the motto found on the Great Seal of the United States, “Novus Ordo Seclorum,” translated as “a new order for the generations.” Also, “Annuit Coeptis” appears on the Great Seal, translated as “He (God) has favored our undertakings.” The risk was for the reward of a better life for those to follow. These mottos appear on the one dollar bill today.
There is no turning back. As in the 1970s, the debate today about government has forever been changed. Business as usual will not be accepted. What form a new order of government takes will depend upon the will of the people. May that decision by the people be based on eternal principles securing the future for our children and the generations, lest we trade a democracy for an emperor.
My name is Marc Nuttle and this is what I believe.
What do you believe?