The Pursuit of Happiness

I think at one point we took the Declaration of Independence seriously. We believed that ALL men were created equal. That ALL men were deserving of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But I think at some point we decided that well, maybe not all of us were equal. Maybe some of us were less deserving. So now it's some of us are deserving and some of us well...
To be fair, I think most people would say that in terms of race and gender we're starting to think we might all be equal. Of course, if your race happens to be Mexican or you happen to come from an Islamic country..maybe not. But hey, at least we don't hate Black people anymore. Most of us. And you know, women have come a long way. Now we get to do all the cooking, cleaning, raising of children AND hold a full time job. (Some of us are lucky enough to have spouses who help.)
OK so I really think equality is still a nice idea. I don't see a lot of it floating around in actuality though. The rich are still rich, the poor are still poor. And hey...guess who's running the government? The rich. And guess who they're interested in helping? The rich.
I am not saying that the rich should give up all their money and live in rags or be punished in some way for being rich. But I am also not saying that the poor should suffer needlessly because they are poor. The honest truth is that no matter what we do there will always be those who have less than others. There will always be the wealthy. There will always be the poor. There will sometimes be a middle class.
Our DoI says that we are entitled, by our Creator, with certain inalienable (that means they can't be taken away from us) rights. The right to life. The right to liberty. The right to pursue happiness. Let's start with the first.
The poor live shorter lives. They work harder, they have more stress. I know some people would disagree and say that if you're poor it's because you're too lazy, you aren't working hard enough, blah blah blah. I'm not arguing that right now, but for the record I think it's a load of crap. Anyway, all the studies show that over the last 20 years or so the life expectancy between those people of lower and higher incomes has increased with people of lower income living shorter lives.
There are many reasons for this. Stress is one of them, poor access to healthy and quality food, and the biggie, less access to affordable, competent medical care. Most poor people are too poor to see a doctor if they don't feel well, and often conditions like cancer or heart disease go untreated simply because the person doesn't have access to preventative care. And so they die younger than someone who can go in for a check up when they need to.
Now, I may be alone in this, but this seems an infringement on one of our inalienable rights. If we are all equal, in the eyes of our government and in the eyes of God (I believe the latter statement more than the former), then we are all entitled to equal care of that life. Meaning, if we get sick or hurt, we have a right to be treated competently and well until we are better. It is a protection of the life that we are entitled to.
On to liberty. Liberty is a tricky thing. It is defined as follows:
lib·er·ty/ˈlibərtē/Noun

1. The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life.

I think the key word here is "oppressive" restrictions. Like it or not, there are restrictions on freedom. I hear a lot of: "It's a free country, I can do what I want." Well, no. Not actually. Nothing in this country is free. Except air, and just wait, I bet they figure out how to charge for that eventually. We have laws governing everything from how fast we can drive to interactions with the people around us. We have to pay taxes. (Yes, we do. Taxation is necessary. See above statement about things that are free.) We have to follow the laws. If we don't, there are consequences. So we may be free to say what we like, think what we like, believe what we like, wear what we like, read what we like, buy what we like, go where we like (mostly), but all that freedom comes with a pretty hefty price. Responsibility.
You must use your liberty responsibly. Participate in your government at a local, state and federal level. I hate nothing more than people who bitch about the state of things and then say they don't vote. Your vote is your voice. And while I agree that some very significant changes must happen in our government, that doesn't change your responsibility. Vote. Follow the rules, even the ones you think are stupid. Don't infringe on someones rights just because you don't like what they believe. They have the same liberties you do no matter who they are or where they're from. We throw liberty around like it's an easy thing, an easy word, or a free pass. It is none of those things. Respect it. Be responsible with it. Cherish it. Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to speak their mind.

You need life. I'm not saying an easy life devoid of hardship, but life. And a life free from worrying about how you'll protect that life from things like disease, illness, and injury.
You need liberty. You need to be able to explore and have opportunities to learn and grow and develop. You still have to follow the rules, but those rules should not prevent you from living your life.

And finally, the pursuit. All of us, as equal individuals, should have the right to pursue what makes us happy. If that means that we want to work hard in school and get an education then all of us, from the wealthiest to the poorest, should have the right to that education. (The actual earning of knowledge should not be easy. Easy knowledge is cheap knowledge and by definition, worth little.) If you want to spend your life working hard with your hands building and creating, then go for it. You like painting? Find a way to make that work for you. Just be prepared for a lot of hardship no matter what you choose. Nobody ever promised that life would be an easy thing, and I'm not saying it should be. We value that which we work hard for, we do not value what is free.

What I am saying is that the opportunities in life should be available equally to everyone, the care of that life should be available equally to everyone,  and everyone should be prepared to care responsibly for their burden of liberty.