Declaration of Interdependence

Most of us think the Declaration of Independence is a sacred document that illuminates the key entitlements of every person. I posit that this is a misguided perception. "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is not an altruism, or idealized prose, but rather a demand of King George III (not to be confused with the twice and future king of today) that THESE truths we hold to be self-evident. A very specific independence, from tyranny, over-taxation and the trampling of basic rights.

This ideology has been usurped by those who would have us believe that we are on our own, every man for himself, sometimes referred to as being a maverick, an independent and so forth. In theory, this concept is appealing, an enabler for personal growth and wealth acquisition. But something has gone wrong, horribly wrong.

Ever drive down a street that you've been on a hundred times before, and suddenly you come within an inch of your life, side-swiped by a huge SUV, whose driver was too impatient to wait another millisecond to enter the road, cut you off, cell phone to ear, oblivious to everything and everyone? If it sounds familiar, welcome to the club. You are in a world that is officially independent, independent of courtesy, common decency and consideration. Your life is devalued relative to those who deem themselves above everyone and everything, and woe to anyone who gets in their way. If you see yourself in this illustration, no apologies. You know who you are, and need to re-evaluate your notions of superiority by virtue of wealth or just an ego-driven, over-inflated opinion of self-worth.

Jimmy Cliff sang "the harder they come, the harder they fall". "Be kind to those on your way up, for you might meet them on your way down". After all, we are equal in our humanity. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is the great common denominator - we all need food, clothing and shelter, without which we cannot move up the pyramid to the next level of self-actualization. Absent any one of these basic elements, we become focused and fixated upon obtaining it. We pity the homeless person on the street, but we are not independent of their predicament. Unknown forces are at work, and we are all fair game.

If this sounds like a Socialist doctrine, let's be clear on one thing - we all live in denial of the fact that we are dependent on many "socialized" services of life. Would we be willing to pay a premium, as we do for health care, for services provided by the fire department, police department, postal service, even social services? I think not. We expect to receive those benefits because we are fine, upstanding, tax-paying individuals. The sad fact is that we don't know how our taxes are really utilized. Undoubtedly, they could be better allocated for other services that benefit the common good, such as health care, elder care and aid for those less unfortunate individuals who desperately need relief, to name but a few.

But that wouldn't be the American way: to the winner goes the spoils. Our federal, state and local governments are so corrupt and self-interested that they are only motivated toward the same, selfish end - garnering favorable legislation for their cronies and getting re-elected.

Do yourself a great favor and rent the 1976 movie "Network" - a masterpiece of a film written by Paddy Chayevsky and directed by Sidney Lumet. There are so many life-lessons to be learned there, but at the top of the list is Howard Beale's appeal to his listening audience. He implored them to: "Go to your windows, open them, stick your heads out and yell "We're as mad as hell and we're not going to take this anymore". It's as relevant today as it was thirty-two years ago. The other, lesser known scene is with Ned Beatty, who plays the head of a large communication conglomerate, and orders Howard into his massive board room. The speech sends shivers up one's spine. It ends with the statement, "The world is one large, ecumenical corporation". Think about that for a moment, and then realize how similar it is to the world of today. And we arrived at this sorry state of affairs by purposely putting on our blinders, and plundering the commonwealth for self-enrichment and aggrandizement.

Is this truly independence? Certainly it is a form of societal alienation. Which inevitably puts us all on the road to an unfortunate future. Rather, let us return to our roots, and throw off the chains of corporate enslavement. The time has come to draft a new document, a Declaration of Interdependence, stating that THESE truths we hold to be self evident; that we will work together to ensure that each person has a decent life, economic and social liberty, and that unless and until we achieve these goals, we cannot freely and fairly engage in the pursuit of happiness. By embracing our interdependence we will truly become a nation of many, living as one.

The founders, as imperfect as they were, would be proud.