Wow! See what happens when you take a few days off. You return home full of vim and vigor – also huff, puff and fluff. (Oh, I forgot. Those “names” were given away – on a silver platter – to Frank’s “Evel Twins.” Regular readers of Petaluma360 know what I mean.)
Our visit to the gold country, last week, is still causing me to reflect on earlier times in California and the many challenges, trials and tribulations the 49ers faced. Somehow, our great state survived and flourished. Today, if California were a separate nation, it would rank 6th to 10th, economically in the world. BTW, I am not suggesting that we succeed from the USA. But, I am suggesting that as we approach this year’s celebration of our nation’s Independence Day, we remember what July 4th is all about; not just picnics and fireworks. In fact, most citizens in 1776 didn’t learn about the signing of this document until after the first public reading of the document four days later in Philadelphia on July 8th.
As food for thought, my friend “Hammerhead” sent the following quote from a description of “Jeffersonian Democracy:”
The philosophical roots of Jeffersonian Democracy are to be found in the ideas of the Enlightenment and in natural law that Jefferson expounded in the Declaration of Independence. In an address in 1790, he reiterated his faith in “the sufficiency of human reason for the care of human affairs” and stressed that “the will of the majority, the Natural law of every society, is the only sure guardian of the rights of man.” This faith in the people was basic to the creed he enunciated in the election of 1800 and implemented as president. He wished to keep the government close to the people. “I am not for transferring all the powers of the States to the general government, and all those of that government to the Executive branch,” he wrote at a time when a Federalist Congress had given the president extraordinary power over aliens. With civil liberties threatened by the Alien and Sedition Acts, Jefferson reaffirmed his commitment to the Bill of Rights. In a period of rising military expenditures and mounting debt, he promised a government “rigorously frugal and simple,” reducing the army and navy and applying the savings to discharging the national debt. The desire to decrease the army also reflected a republican fear of standing armies that had roots in radical English thought.
Hmmm, how do these thoughts relate to our world, today? Any comments?
To learn more about the significance of this holiday and how Petalumans celebrated it in earlier times, come to the steps of the Petaluma Historical Museum and Library at 10:30 a.m., on July 4th. You will also be able to ring the historic Korbel Bell and have lemonade in the courtyard. Stay tuned for more Independence Day thoughts.