"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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
--The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America, July 4, 1776

The Declaration was willfully naive. The Constitution was even more so.

Can we really say this great experiment was a success? If you seek a monument to largess, bureaucracy, graft, and tyranny as everyone understood it, look around.

Obi,

Your joking right? Where else would you rather reside? Despite its relative failures, the regime that descended from the Declaration's principles is the greatest this world has ever known.

Amen, Ralph.

Let's not make the perfect the enemy of the good, or, more importantly, let constructive criticism descend into ingratitude.

Well said, Ralph & Eric.

"...the pursuit of Happiness" I like that.

Congratulations, Dan.

Despite the inferior pols we've had in charge over the last few decades, this is still the best place to live. This, even though we don't give the Constitution the respect it deserves. We allow meanings to be made up out of whole cloth, when the meanings are available in the Federalist Papers.

I kinda think I would dig living in Malta.