Independence Day

“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.” – U. S. Declaration of Independence.

On Saturday our country Guyana will be celebrating “Independence Day”. What does “Independence” mean to me? For one thing it reminds me that at one time we were not “independent”. We were “owned” and controlled by another country – in our case Britain – which made every decision for us.

The quote from the U. S. Declaration of Independence reminds us that at one time every nation in the Americas – even the great USA, was not independent. The U. S. was the first country among them to declare their independence – from Britain also – and in their case to actually fight that country, which refused to recognise the argument the declaration made.

We should be independent because we were all created equal by God: no one is by nature higher or lower than another. And one country cannot by right own another country – they can only do so by “might”. We did not have to “fight” a “war of independence” against Britain like the U. S., but unlike the U. S., our people fought many battles to remind Britain that we were “endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights”. We fought as slaves as the 1763 Monument, carved by the late great Philip Moore, reminds us.

We fought as indentured servants in the more than a dozen instances when we were shot down like dogs for merely saying that the sugar planters must treat us like humans.

As humans we have the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. And as a young Guyanese dedicated to remaining in my country to serve her, we have to ensure that these three rights are not just words. We have to work to make them real – if we are to really be “independent”. To have the “right to life” is not just to be alive. The slaves and indentured servants and their immediate descendants were alive.

The “right to life” must mean that the quality of that life must be such that we have the opportunity to achieve the potential that our Creator gave to every one of us.

We have to work in our county to improve the conditions within our country that we do not have to depend on the kindness of other countries. Our national poet Martin Carter reminds us that “the mouth is muzzled by the hand that feeds it”. A muzzled mouth is by definition not independent.

Liberty. We should be free. I have said that independence means that we are free from others imposing their will on us. But that is only one side of the coin of independence: the other side says that we must be free to do the things we want. Free to pursue happiness.

At long last even the economists have realised that while material things are necessary for our happiness; they are insufficient to deliver it. We cannot define one narrow path and declare that only this path leads to happiness – this would only be the path to a new slavery and indentureship.

Happy Independence Day!