In the last lines of the Declaration of Independence, signed July 4, 1776, the signers, in support of the document’s contents, stated that “we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
Would a contemporary group of this country’s leaders, aspiring leaders, our best and brightest, make the same sort of pledge today? I’ve been wondering that of late.
Sure, they would pledge their lives if the country were in deep trouble. Because a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. That hasn’t changed in two centuries. And they would probably pledge their scared honor, too, though exactly what “sacred honor” means escapes me — and probably everyone else — so why not pledge it and have anyone prove that you didn’t really mean it?
Pledging one’s fortunes, however? That seems out of sync with certain contemporary values.
Even 13 or 14 percent of one’s new fortune (i.e. income) pledged to our government in the form of taxes to help cut the federal debt, fund infrastructure, help fellow Americans who are up against it, strikes some leaders, would-be leaders, and best-and-brightest as more than enough. If an even greater tax burden were imposed, some of these worthies might well have to find a tax haven and become “citizens of the world” rather than see their personal fortunes somewhat diminished.
We can’t, of course, easily change the wording of the Declaration of Independence. But perhaps we can do an attack ad-like edit of the original. You know. Cut and past to get across the message you want to get across without actually changing.
With that in mind, here’s how a new, updated, more contemporary last line of the document might read: “We mutually pledge to each other our lives…and our sacred honor.” No change, just an edit. Or, if an actual change were in fact required: “We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our job creation abilities and our sacred honor.”
Sound more in keeping with the times? You betcha.