The following was submitted by a Pirate supporter using the pseudonym “A. Pirate, MD.”; the Declaration of Independence, reborn as a Pirate Party battle cry against two-party rule. This article is apart of the project “Message in a Bottle”, allowing supporters of the US Pirate Party to submit editorial articles to the United States Pirate Party website.

“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the Earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitled them a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation” – Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, 1776

When asked where they stand on politics, 250 years later, many Americans respond succinctly, “I think we should just burn it all down and start over”. The same frustration experienced by the American colonies lives on in the modern day.

Several truths that Jefferson, paraphrasing Voltaire, thought to be “Self-Evident” were that “all men are created equal” and that “they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”

These principles of equality, life, liberty and happiness still excite us and draw us toward hope. For 250 years we have strived for them and fought against them so violently that we could hardly claim any ownership of these virtues. We may only hold them up as goals yet unattained and renew our commitment to move in their direction.

Jefferson, as part of the committee of five, goes on to state that, “To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men-deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”.

The Constitution of the United States sought to institute a representative government and to create a structure for obtaining the consent of the governed. This government has been altered over time by constitutional amendments and by acts and laws meant to “perfect” the union.

However, every change has been accompanied by more power lost by the people and gained by industry and factions.

The Declaration stated plainly, “That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute new government”. It said clearly that its principles and structures should be those which seem most likely to effect the people’s safety and happiness. Jefferson went on to declare that “it is their right. It is their duty to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security”

Before enumerating the transgressions of the king who had so offended the colonists, the Congress identified six principles (equality, life, liberty, happiness, safety and security) upon which government should be founded.

The problem inherent in these principles is that they conflict with one another. Life is often in jeopardy when safety is threatened. Liberty frequently conflicts directly with security. And, equality contradicts individual pursuits of happiness.

The Committee of Five (Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Livingston and Sherman), suggested prudence in deciding to alter “governments long established” and applauded the “patient sufferance” of the colonies. These qualities are necessary to endure the balance of conflicting priorities inherent in government.

But, “when a long train of abuses and usurpations” by the king tyrannized the colonists, they decided to act. The modern-day tyrant is a system of government completely beholden to industry and special interests which subverts the needs of citizens in the name of party.

Each party isolates and demonizes the other while representing a scant quarter of the actual voting public. Neither values the rights of the rest and our principles are compromised in the name of consolidating power and treasure.

Out of a “decent respect to the opinions of mankind” the founders listed the grievances which precipitated their separation from England. So, in Colonial terms, “let facts be submitted to a candid world”.

• Under two-party rule, the deficit has risen to more than $38 Trillion dollars and the people pay ever-more taxes to pay only the interest with no plan to repay the principle.
• The Federal Reserve continues to profit from deficit spending by both parties which enriches banks and bankers at the expense of the people.
• Each party gerrymanders the maps to consolidate power over the other party while failing to provide actual representation to the people. In this way, constituents are chosen by the parties and the people never get to choose their representatives.
• Private equity firms and foreign powers fund campaigns for both parties in exchange for favors. This amounts to sedition in that it undermines the integrity of our elections, Congress and executive branch and leaves each participant open to blackmail and manipulation. The appearance of corruption is everywhere.
• Their constant infighting deprives us of common-sense laws which protect and preserve our rights in favor of laws which further deny us our lives, liberty, and property to bolster and finance private industry.
• Congress has failed to check or to balance the over-reach of the executive branch in direct violation of our constitution.
• They have spent over $14 Trillion on the department of homeland security and the department of defense to fight wars which have not contributed greatly to our security while costing us lives and liberties for almost 25 years.
• During the same 25 years, they have spent $150 billion to maintain the largest prison population the world has ever known.
• The have violated the privacy of citizens en masse and without judicial oversight.
• They have failed to facilitate and legislate legal immigration and weaponized the enforcement of immigration policy to violate human and constitutional rights.
• They have weaponized our police forces against us in violation of our privacy, civil rights, and human rights.
• They have used force, coercion, and murder to deprive us of trial by jury.
• They have protected these officers by mock trials for the felonies and murders they have committed against us.
• They have corrupted the courts by way of political appointment and created political conflict between the executive and judicial branches.
• They have become rich by committing financial crimes through insider trading, taking bribes by way of campaign contributions, and accepting emoluments in exchange for selling out our security.
• They have manipulated free markets to our detriment for personal and political gain.
• They have protected criminal activity through pardons for convicted drug lords and wayward family members.
• They have facilitated the importation and distribution of poisonous chemicals among us under the guise of progress, control, trade, or science.
• They have imposed taxes on us without representation.
• They have created trade agreements which make us dependent on other nations and denied us trade relations more favorable to our security.
• They have refused to secure statehood and representation for Puerto Rico and Washington DC.
• They have deregulated corporate polluters in exchange for financial and political favors.
• They have failed to fully repair the damages suffered by our native populations during the genocide of the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th centuries.

“In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury”.

That line is directly from the Declaration. Their actions are the very definition of tyranny which is by the reckoning of the Second Continental Congress “unfit to rule a free people”.

We have told the Congress that we want honesty, transparency, equity, privacy, freedom, and liberty. We have begged them to legislate term limits, stop insider trading, reform campaign finance laws, and hold government accountable when our rights are violated.

We have asked for safety, security, and clear pathways to pursue happiness. We ask for low taxes and fair wages. Yet we are, again and again, met with frustration, aggression and suppression of our voices in favor of the two-parties.

We, therefore, as Pirates, declare ourselves independent of the two party system. We call for an Article V Convention of States to amend our Constitution and to reform our government to provide new guards for our security and to alter the system to one that may better effect our happiness.

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