Problem of Idealism and Illusion in the Declaration of Independence

Which Direction, America?

There have been several court cases and executive decisions that have shaped the interpretation of the US Constitution. Some examples include Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark case, in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. The decision was based on the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection of the laws to all citizens. Another big one was Citizens United v. FEC (2010), in which the Supreme Court held that corporations have the same free speech rights as individuals and can spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns. Or there is Korematsu v. United States (1944), which challenged the legality of Executive Order 9066 (1942), signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, and which authorized the internment of Japanese Americans—i.e., basically concentration camps on the West Coast for American citizens who were of the “wrong” ethnicity.

I would not say that it is a matter of debate whether the goals of the Declaration of Independence are still being pursued by 21st century America. I believe that the Declaration of Independence was really a lip service-paying document used to justify a massive land grab on the part of wealthy colonists who wanted to break from the Crown. They colored their intentions in right-sounding rhetoric based on the principles of Enlightenment philosophy—but the signatories were not really concerned about the ideals of Thomas Paine, whom they later treated as a pariah when he criticized the Founding Fathers for not being serious about liberty, equality and fraternity for all (Blakemore, 1995). He thought slavery ought to be abolished—they thought otherwise. Today, it is really no different. Leaders and the “elite” pay lip service to whatever ideals are trending—but they are always looking out for their own self-interest. As critics have continuously pointed out, America is not so much a country as it is a business (Bakan, 2012).