Thursday, October 28th, 2010 10:52:34

Our System Works

We have a unique system of government. It began when we declared our independence from England on July 4, 1776. As a people, we had become increasingly unhappy with leaders in England making decisions that affected our lives and our livelihoods. Eventually, we were forced to a decision point: to fold under the tyranny of England or fight for liberty. As Patrick Henry so eloquently stated, “Give me liberty, or give me death.”

Not content just to become independent, we also set up a new system of government, one that was and remains very different from others. Our Declaration of Independence states: “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.”

People — created equal, with rights given from God and a government that derives its power from the consent of the governed. This is drastically different from systems that are ruled by monarchs or dictators, or from systems under which the government holds the power and gives rights to the people.