"Be A Patriot! Get A Job"

David Harsanyi writes:

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson writes that individuals are endowed with unalienable rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

There is nothing in there about state-sponsored “public” service and nothing about having to listen to politicians lecture us about what we “must” do to satisfy patriotic obligation. I checked.

Yet, a hobbyhorse of presidential hopefuls is government service. The duo is under the impression that public service trumps your own selfish existence. After all, you only make a living, give to charities of your choice, take care of your own children, buy your own junk and, hopefully, mind your own business.

“Loving your country shouldn’t just mean watching fireworks on the Fourth of July,” Barack Obama explained to a crowd in Colorado Springs this week. “Loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it.”

Yes. He said must.

Ironically, in most places, Americans are prohibited from lighting fireworks on Independence Day