I am spending this 4th of July in Germany, having visited my parents and friends from growing-up near Nuremberg for the last few days. It is late here now and I am seeing all the Happy 4th wishes from the US in my Twitter timeline. That made me think about what I feel like celebrating on this day. And as I wrote last year, it is not so much independence we need in the modern world, but rather interdependence.
There is, however, something very much worth celebrating and that is the memorable language from the Declaration itself. It brought with it some ideas that feel as important today as they were back then, such as the concept of unalienable rights. Other aspects, though, feel like they need to be updated for the progress that has been made since then.
Based on my writing in World After Capital, here is a newly phrased “preamble” that I would be happy to celebrate for many years to come (although I am sure it can be improved upon):
We hold these truths to be universal, that all humans are created equal; that they are endowed qua their humanity with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of both Happiness and Knowledge; that they have Responsibilities towards each other and other species, that among these are Tolerance, and the Application and Furtherance of Knowledge for the Benefit of All.
I will, in a future post, explain the rationale for my choice of words and ideas in detail.
Until then: Happy 4th of July!
