From the Publisher:
Viewing of Declaration of Independence in Clarksdale brings everything to light
Recently, I attended a viewing of one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence at a private reception at Madidi in Clarksdale . The worthy purpose of this traveling exhibition is to encourage participation among young voters. I would hope that those thus encouraged would then take the time to familiarize themselves with the issues and vote with their heads not just with their hearts like so many do these days. Many times “doing the right thing” means doing the hard thing. Don't always just make the the choice that makes you feel good. One of the hosts of this event made an excellent point: if you don't make the choice, the choice will be made for you. To that end, I would only add that if you don't vote then you have no right to complain, and that an informed choice will always be better than an uninformed one.
“Rights”. What exactly is a “Right?” In my view a “Right” is something that does not impose a cost or otherwise infringe upon other people. For example, you have a right to free speech. You don't have a right to have anyone actually listen to you. A job is not a right, since it is an ‘alienable' thing. Neither is healthcare, housing or education. We are privileged to live in a nation where those things are valued and to have a government that seeks to provide these things for its citizens. One of the problems with things that are given rather than earned is that those things then are valued less by the recipients. Too frequently we see those that demand to be given this or that and call it their ‘right' to have it. This attitude is in direct conflict with the words ‘unalienable' and ‘pursuit' in the Declaration. We do not have a ‘right' to the outcome of happiness, just the right to pursue it.
In my view, pursuit of happiness translates, well, into every facet of life. The founders knew that to have the government try to achieve outcomes for its citizens was doomed to fail. You can lead a horse to water…. So the purpose of the government is to provide an environment where its citizens can freely pursue whatever outcome they want, but the outcome will be the result of the individual's own choices, actions, and work ethic. No safety nets. A good example of this is the trend toward outcome based education. In order to make sure the outcome of every child getting a high school diploma is achieved (or that the ‘achievement' scores were sufficiently high), tests and such have been ‘dumbed down.' While the students' feelings were indeed spared the horrific traumas of failing grades and being held back in the short term, they have been cheated by that system of an education that would allow them an equal opportunity to pursue happiness. Our current politicians need to recognize the plain truth: to give someone an outcome, whether it is an unearned grade, an unearned degree or an unearned job devalues and degrades both the giver and the recipient. To create an environment where that person can acquire the skills to gain his own outcome (a good grade, a degree, or a job) will increase that person's self-esteem and self value.
Having the opportunity to see an original copy of the Declaration of Independence at Madidi in Clarksdale was an incrediable experience. It also gave me much to think about. Being in the presence of this great document was an eye-opener for me in so many ways and I'm thankful to my good friends Bill Luckett and Morgan Freeman for giving me this opportunity.
On the next page you will notice that our executive editor of the DBJ, Jack Criss, will soon be leaving the paper in order to take a job in the PR department at Community Bank in Brandon . Jack has been with me for 12 years in my various publishing ventures and we at the DBJ hate to see him go. We wish Jack and his family the very best in his new move back to his home of Jackson .
As Jack leaves, I am proud to announce two new additions to the DBJ: Joe Meek, will become managing editor of the DBJ, and Jamie Smith, one of my cousins will become contributing editor.
In the next issue of the DBJ, we'll feature a special section entitled The Delta's Top Community Leaders/Volunteers. We need your help in determining who these people are. Please fill out the form on the next page and submit as many names of those you feel add much to your community in the way of moving your community forward. One of our best assets here in the Delta are the great numbers of community volunteers and leaders.
As always, we enjoy hearing from you. DBJ
Scott Coopwood
Publisher
