“All men are created equal” is a rejection of the Divine Right of Kings that has nothing to do with slavery, which up to 1776 was a sad fact of the human existence since time immemorial, all across the world. America was founded by a people—Europeans—on refined ideas & culture of governance & law that stem back into Classical Antiquity; America (& Canada, Australia, etc.) is not simply “an idea”.
Sincerely appreciate the “Happy Dominion Day” for Canucks that is still an accurate term given that the British Crown still ultimately rules over Canada (whenever it really wants to, some day). “Canada Day”, the changing of the national flag, and the motivation behind it all is another rather insidious post-War “idea”, let's say for now.
One of the finest essays I've ever read. Thank you. This should be shared to a wider audience - say, Wall Street Journal.
“All men are created equal” is a rejection of the Divine Right of Kings that has nothing to do with slavery, which up to 1776 was a sad fact of the human existence since time immemorial, all across the world. America was founded by a people—Europeans—on refined ideas & culture of governance & law that stem back into Classical Antiquity; America (& Canada, Australia, etc.) is not simply “an idea”.
Sincerely appreciate the “Happy Dominion Day” for Canucks that is still an accurate term given that the British Crown still ultimately rules over Canada (whenever it really wants to, some day). “Canada Day”, the changing of the national flag, and the motivation behind it all is another rather insidious post-War “idea”, let's say for now.
A great piece.
And I like to think about our flawed politicians and our national failure to always live up to our ideals as a kind of beneficial hypocrisy.
By giving lip service to an ideal, even if we fall short, we’re holding up an example that others will live up to.
I wrote about this here:https://open.substack.com/pub/andrewperlot/p/why-you-should-try-hypocrisy?r=1xulhu&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
I love your reference to Pascal in this context, greatness and wretchedness. Imperfection is a useful way to approach our faith life as well.