The Meaning of the Declaration of Independence

Last week in America we got to celebrate the 4th of July. To many people, this is a nice excuse to have a day off, spend it with family or friends, eat some hot dogs, drink some beer and watch some awesome fireworks. Nothing wrong with that.

It is important to remember, however (and hence why I've delayed this entry), why we celebrate that day, and what the Declaration of Independence, that document penned by the inimitable style and genius of Thomas Jefferson and consigned to eternity by the force of its rhetoric and the universality of its message, ultimately represents: ideals that although no nation has yet fully embodied, even the nation that originally proposed them, nevertheless establish an ideal toward which all nations ought to strive and against which they can measure their moral and political progress.

And check out this interesting and short article on the morality/immorality of patriotism.