Zinn #1

It is the year 1776. You know, the year the colonies declared their independence from England. The Declaration of Independence. It was shouted from the rooftops. The Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal." So equal that four days after the reading of this document from the town hall balcony in Boston, the townsmen of this city were ordered to arrive on the Common for a military draft. A draft that could be avoided if one were rich enough to pay for a substitute. If you had enough money, you could buy your way out of "patriotic duty."

All men are created equal. What a joke. This country has never been about equal rights. It's always been about giving the dissenting voices enough table scraps to keep them quiet. And it has worked overwhelmingly well.

I'm reminded of Fahrenheit 911 when Michael Moore is trying to get congressmen to sign their children up for military service. They weren't really going for it. Not so much. They were, however, more than willing to send other people's children. Your and my neighbors, friends, brothers and cousins.

(from a reading of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States)