The Declaration of Interdependence

The Declaration of Interdependence

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one person to accomplish more through social and political bands with others than those individual persons can achieve alone, a decent respect for the tribulations as well as the benefits of such a cooperation requires that they should examine and declare the causes and boundaries for their union.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all persons by virtue of birth are endowed equally in Rights to their Life, their Liberty, and their Pursuit of Happiness, that they are not inherently endowed with Rights to others' Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness, and that, alone, a person's achievement in these goals is limited by his own innate abilities and resources, but, in society, the means and actions for one's needs or desires may depend, compete, or conflict with another's. Thus, to secure and resolve these collective Rights, Agreements are instituted amongst People, deriving their just power from the consent and the concession of those agreed. To enforce the common protections of these Agreements, Societies and Governments enact and establish rules and structures to serve all the People. To support the collective Rights, the People assume Duties that place boundaries and require restrictions upon the full freedom in the exercise of their individual Rights for the interest of the common protections of everyone's Rights.

The conflict of Rights and Duties of an individual is an inevitable consequence of the social contract as Duties are extrinsic, mandatory, and subtractive from the inherent Rights we may voluntarily choose to exercise or not. When tradition and governance make apparent and fair the balance of benefits from the assistance and support of others with the losses of opportunity and choice for the individual, the obligation of Duty can be easily justified and borne. But sometimes we must draw our assurance from systematic faith in the justice of these same rules and structure when the diminishments of Duties seem to overweigh the personal benefits derived from others' contribution and support, such as when the fortunate with little challenge to their comfort, health, and pleasure are called upon to assist those with greater challenges or when a Duty seems to fall selectively or more heavily upon only some of the People.

Prudence dictates that Society and Government long established should not be changed for light and transient causes, but that forbearance be coupled with efforts to redress complaints within those systems. The strength of governance draws from its ability to earn compliance with its rules, but such obeisance as is compelled by inflexible force may more likely be confronted by inflexible and destructive resistance. Consent and concession are not granted only once to empower Agreement, but must be an eternal compromise, open for examination, interpretation, and negotiation peacefully to reinforce our bond. People must commit in consensus to community if the value and combined might of their union is to be preserved. Rules and structures may change, but the personal acceptance of both obligation and prerogative as constituents of an individual's role in an interdependent society is essential.

{My gratitude to Thomas Jefferson for providing the start to several of these sentences and thoughts. I accept the blame for how they may have wandered from his message by the time they reached their ends.}