Essence of Declaration of Independence lost in government
It is pitiful that many Americans do not recognize or understand that Thomas Jefferson has brilliantly captured the essence of America in the Declaration of Independence.
Jefferson stated, “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator to certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men ….” .
In other words the purpose of government is to secure man’s natural rights. Note that natural rights occur in nature and they require nothing from your fellow man for you to enjoy them. The government’s role is to provide the conditions under which the citizens can enjoy their natural rights.
The basic problem with government is to make it strong enough to accomplish its’ function of protecting natural rights while at the same time keeping it from expanding into other functions that it should not be doing.