“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.” From paragraph two of the united States of America, Declaration of Independence, from England on July 4th, 1776.

I have been wondering what the other unalienable Rights there might be for Men, meaning these days People. The source of that statement is John Locke’s book An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. And Locke modernized it from the natural rights to life, liberty, and property that precede states’ existence. It is described by the Classical Greek philosophers Aristotle and Epicurus, and then challenged by the Roman Stoics Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, with similar ideas with a different spin.

These writers were seeking lives of sustainable pleasure based on good thoughts, socially desirable works, and living within the bounds of virtuous behavior. The Founding Fathers of the United States were familiar with these moral aspirations when they founded our country.

What other unalienable rights might they have proclaimed and we now desperately need? Among these, I would suggest access to true, unbiased information, which has its sources easily accessed and tested for accuracy. 

Today’s world is awash in information, much of which the controllers carefully spin to be believed by its target audience, you and me. Anyone with money can track us, and these people and their sensitized computers can tailor information to appeal to our habits and channel the information we get and thus control our wishes. From that manipulation of the information we receive, they can grab our attention and lock us into their system, so we are formed into a nation of robot zombies.

The truth is out there, but we aren’t going to get it. Not, without a struggle.