July 4th and the pursuit of happiness

Today is July 4th -- Independence Day in the USA. On this date in 1776, the Second Continental Congress met here in Philadelphia and approved the Declaration of Independence, severing the colonies' ties to the British monarchy.

The second paragraph of the Declaration begins with these words:

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.

These words are as relevant today as they were 233 years ago. Because today we are living under a different kind of tyranny -- tyranny of the rich, white, homophobic, male corporatocracy.

And, because of that tyranny, some Americans still don't seem to have equal rights in the pursuit of happiness.

It wasn't until the early 20th century that women were considered worthy of the right to vote.

It took several more decades for African Americans to be similarly enfranchised.

And both groups statistically still lack full equality of wealth, power, and opportunity today.

Then there's the issue of gay rights, which has been called the last civil rights movement. Even as the First Amendment forbids religious interference in government, equal opportunity in the pursuit of happiness is still a pipe dream in most of these United States for LGBT persons who are limited by the religious convictions of a very vocal minority. How would those homophobes feel if someone tried to tell them who they may or may not marry?

In the past 233 years, certainly we have made much progress towards true equality for all Americans. But we still have a long way to go. Hopefully it won't take us another 233 years to get there. Because the Declaration states that all men are created equal -- not just the rich, white, heterosexual ones.