On July 4th

The Declaration of Independence states:

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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Granted, it needs some rewording, especially in the area of gender, but I ask you the following -

At the ballot box – Are African American, Hispanic, and poor people treated the same as the rich and wealthy? Are they equal?

Women, who have the same qualifications as their male counterparts and sometimes better, are paid 5% less right out of college and over time only 78% of what their male counterparts are paid. Is this equal?

Farm workers can work 50-60+ hour work weeks and are denied the opportunity to organize unions or be paid overtime. And retirement is their responsibility. Is this equal? (And to be truthful, farmers in general get screwed over by the system. Capitalist agricultural companies are the ones making the money.)

And the list could go on.

Do African American, Hispanic, or LGBTQ people feel safe walking the streets of America or in prison when arrested (often for offenses that white people are let go on) feel free? Do they have the liberty to go out without fear of being stopped for being a person of color? Or “different” from the accepted norm?

Are men and women that have suffered punishment in the prison industrial complex free to find employment after they leave? Or do they suffer because they have to check a box that states they have a “criminal record.” Are they free from their past? Or must they wear it like an albatross around their neck for the rest of their lives?

Are LGBTQ individuals free to be themselves in public without being shamed for the life they live?

Are children that live in poor communities free to attend high quality schools that are as well funded as their suburban counterparts? Or must they attend decrepit schools with broken windows, leaky ceilings, lavatories that don't work, overcrowded classrooms, and more?

And this list could go on.

And the pursuit of happiness? Seriously?

Are people that work two minimum wage jobs in order to provide for their families free to pursue their dreams of being something other than a wage slave?

Are college students free to pursue their dreams of being … whatever it is they choose … without having the burden of debt over their heads? To the tune of $1.3+ Trillion?

Are the children in our underfunded and over tested schools free to dream about the future rather than having nightmares about how they did on the last mandated exam they took?

Let's add those that are free from serving in prison.

Let's add the women and LGBTQ in the workplace.

Let's add the immigrants among us that are being exploited in fields and factories providing our needs while the owners walk away with millions and more.

Who has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

If all do not have it, the the Declaration of Independence has another statement that we, the people, must stand on and by. And it states:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We, the people, have many causes – more than listed here – to sever the connections with the capitalist economic and social system that was imposed upon us 240 years ago by wealthy, white, wig-wearing males.

We,the people, have every reason to, by all means possible and necessary, to put socialists in the position of power at every level. And I mean in government – local, state, and federal – and in the economic system – big business,  Wall Street,  and more.

We demand that we receive and be able to live these “God given unalienable rights” that the Constitution of the United States gives us a citizens and that anyone that works consciously and directly to deny us these right lose the very rights that they are trying to deny us and be tried as traitors to the Constitution, country, and mankind as a whole.

We demand that these same rights be given to all humanity across the world. In every country and on every continent.

And note the word “given.”

2017 will be the 100^th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution.

To paraphrase Malcom X, we will receive them either by the ballot – free and equal democratic elections – or we will receive them by the bullet – revolution.

We will receive them in the course of human events.

My question is:  What will those events be?