233 years since the Declaration of Independence, how much has changed

As July 4th approaches, I'd like to look at the event this day is celebrating, The Declaration of Independence. The document written by the founding fathers in which they spell out, very clearly, the reasons for, and the philosophy behind the founding of the greatest country in the history of the world. To me, the central point of this great document, and the central pillar for which our government should be standing on (should be, implying that it is not,) is as follows:

"...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,..."

This clearly spells out the purpose of our government. The government was created in order to establish a security, so to say, that guarantees that no individual's natural rights will be taken away from them. The governments job, is to ensure the safety of its constituents (from forces abroad, as well as domestic,) and nothing more. The government thus acquires its limited power only in areas related to this. For example, the government can impose taxes in order to have money to run an army for national security. The government, however, should not have the power to do anymore.

Today, (and this did not happen overnight,) this is not the only agenda of our government. Our government now has programs of entitlements, and has hundreds of rules and regulations controlling our lives. Just this week a legislation was passed which spells out how light bulbs can be made. Where did the government obtain the power to do this? Where in our founding documents does it say that the government has the power to collect taxes in order to create programs of entitlements? To spread the wealth?

The answer is that it never did. The government is and continues to act out of its jurisdiction. This is not the country that our founding fathers were trying to create. How often does one hear others, (and often themselves,) complaining about taxes. I used to find this to be odd. In theory, when one pays taxes, (in a country such as ours used to be,) the taxes are paid to fund government operations that are necessary for the country to survive, such as defense and a judiciary system. Hence, when one pays taxes, they should be happy for they are in essence giving money to themselves, and if the governments only agenda was to protect out natural rights then this would be the case.

This is not the case though. The government does more than it was established to do, and hence, it is no longer what it was designated to be: a government for the people by the people. The country is no longer owned by us, and run by our employees, the government. But rather it is owned by the government, and run accordingly. With them controlling and regulating many aspect of our life, and seeking to control more.

So this July 4th, I won't be doing much for it is on the Sabbath, but I will be doing this and I encourage you all to do the same. Read the Declaration of Independence. Think about it. Think about how it does, or does not, match the ideals and running of the country which it is supposed to represent, ours, the greatest country in the history of mankind, The United States of America.