Editorial: A good time to scare tyrants

Independence Day is a fun time in America. All its tradition is contained in the small city of Oak Harbor which, like hundreds of others across the nation, will offer a parade, fireworks, music and entertainment, all coinciding with the date when the U.S. Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, on July 4, 1776.

It’s not just a celebration commemorating something that happened 233 years ago, it’s an endorsement of the ideas written by Thomas Jefferson that still have the power to shake the foundations of tyrannical governments.

Contemplate the following words if you’re the head mullah in Iran, the tinhorn dictator of North Korea, or the gang that controls the government in China:

“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.”

In a nutshell, it means that our rights are God-given and are beyond the power of any human institution to restrict. Of course, governments around the world, including our own, work full-time to erode individual freedom as much as possible, using fear, coercion and outright brutality when necessary to keep and increase control over the people.

But despite such efforts, Jefferson’s words can not be erased. These words have inspired the downtrodden for centuries. Today, they’re alive in China and on the streets of Tehran. Even in North Korea there are people harboring these forbidden thoughts of freedom. And modern history shows that repression is ultimately bound to fail. Dictators rise and are overthrown; unjust systems like those in the Soviet Union to South Africa fall to an outraged public; totalitarianism gives way to freedom.

Gaining and keeping freedom is a continual battle, but those who side with Thomas Jefferson are on the right side of history. In 1776, democracy was virtually unheard of. Today, democratic nations dominate the world and we can optimistically believe that the days are numbered for dictators everywhere.

It’s good to be on Jefferson’s side, and that is reason enough to celebrate July 4 in Oak Harbor and throughout the nation. If you want to do more than celebrate, take a few seconds to email his words printed above, and encourage others to pass them along. Thanks to the Internet, the whole globe could be flooded with these words of freedom in just a few hours, and the dictators will not rest easy the evening of July 3.

Strike a blow for freedom on your keyboard, then set off some fireworks. Happy Independence Day.

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