The Declaration of Independence outlines a philosophy that was revolutionary at a time when kings, queens, and royal bloodlines had ruled nations with executive authority for generations. One of the document’s primary tenets is that all men are created equal, challenging the concept of royalty at its core. Furthermore, all individuals have unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This notion challenges the conventional feudal structure that had been the status quo for most of the world’s larger governments and city centers for a millennium. Even more revolutionary was the concept that the government’s power is derived through the consent of the governed. When living under a feudal King, the serfdom and merchant class had no voice. The Declaration of Independence flipped that script.

Last but not least, our founding fathers established that it was a critical right of the people to alter or abolish a government that does not defend these unalienable rights. This is one area where most governments prefer to gloss over when establishing their own representative democracy patterned after the United States.

People in positions of authority are generally disinclined to make their status vulnerable. To protect their own power, they will often use fear as a weapon and cite individuals abusing their rights and liberties, or simply not consenting to their authoritarian bidding, as an accelerant for that fear. The net result is a collectivist determination, manipulated by the ruling class through misinformed and disingenuous populist messaging, that the “unruly” need to be governed, that their rights need to be curtailed, and that the governing body correspondingly needs to grow to facilitate the necessary governance of the ungovernable.

Our founding fathers were aware of this tendency. Technologies have changed over the past 250 years, but human nature has remained predictable. This understanding is why they wrote the Declaration of Independence as they did.

The ‘catch,’ if you will, is that for a society to remain ‘free,’ the citizens have to be equal to their governors. That citizen equality has to be earned by being active and informed, so that the average individual, with their inalienable rights, can be the check and balance over their local magistrates, who are also generally inclined to “inform” in a way that most favors their particular agendas. To be active and informed takes volunteer time, training, education, and critical thought. Time, training, education, and critical thought are luxuries that most common people lack time for in their day-to-day routines. This vacuum of citizen knowledge is where the system fails.

An old friend once asked me a question during a political philosophy discussion. He asked, “What is the difference between a taxpayer and a citizen?” After a bit of back-and-forth dialogue, he answered his own question, stating, “A citizen is civically involved and plays an active role in the formation of their community. A taxpayer begrudgingly pays their legally required allotment and goes about their own interests.”

The founding fathers of this nation never intended for us to be “taxpayers,” but being a good “citizen” takes effort, intelligence, and genuine moral character. When we fail to live up to the obligations of citizenship, we forego our inalienable rights to those who are actively informed and engaged. For every ‘citizen’ who becomes a ‘taxpayer,’ the ruling class gains a measure of power and justification for their authority.

An oft-quoted adage, “there is no such thing as a free lunch,” is so applicable in so many contexts. With regards to the preservation of liberty, a well-informed citizen, passionate about their liberties, knowledgeable of the law, the inalienable rights they hold, and the nation that protects those rights, is the only line of defense.

The Constitution of the United States of America, the document further defining the rights associated with the Declaration of Independence, was written for ‘citizens.’ The guaranteed rights defined in the Constitution are designed for a moral population. Liberties exist in perpetuity when the common person understands the elementary-school lesson that “just because you can, does not mean that you should.” Nearly all critics of freedom reference individuals who have failed to live by this base-level moral code. Aspiring politicians capitalize on the fear surrounding the abuse of liberty. The marginally informed mob cries for authoritarians to ‘protect’ them. Seeking another term in office, the politicians graciously comply with the mob, compromising individual rights and solidifying their personal station or office.

My challenge to Heber Valley for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is simple to state, and difficult to embody. Honor our national heritage by being a better CITIZEN. Go to the meetings, but do your homework first. Analyze your sources. Do not accept anything or anyone at face value. Trust needs to be earned. I see rampant, disgraceful, and intentionally divisive misinformation on our social channels every day. I see regular manipulation in messaging, converting well-intending residents of the Heber Valley into “political capital.”

It is undeniable that the Heber Valley has some high stakes in play in 2026. That does not mean that we need to lose our propriety, our moral character, or our civility. The damage to the community I have witnessed through social media misinformation campaigns designed to promote specific political agendas, or, in some cases, to monetize personal accounts through post engagement, has caused far more harm than any shovel that has hit the ground.

It is commonly said that “beauty is skin deep.” We host some spectacular views in the Heber Valley. The true beauty of the Heber Valley shines from within — from the residents. Be part of what makes our community beautiful. Be a citizen.

WRITTEN BY RYAN BUNNELL
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