Do you have health insurance? Car insurance? Renter's insurance? Homeowner's insurance? What about Domestic Tranquility Insurance? As the second item on Jefferson's list of demands from the ideal country, I'm assuming this is a pretty big one. (The first is to establish Justice, which we're going to come back to.)
Now, I'm not 100% sure if they just spelled "ensure" as "insure" back in the 1700s, but I'm going to say no, for my sake, and presume that TJ (Thomas Jefferson) knew what he was doing and used "insure" for a reason. Let's refer once again to my dear friends at Merriam-Webster. Their definition of "insure" is "to make certain especially by taking necessary measures and precautions." Let's pause for a moment and take that in. If you'll remember from my last post, a state of Tranquility involves freedom. Freedom from agitations of mind or spirit. Be honest with me. When you watch the news, or take your children to school, or push a shopping cart through Publix (or your grocery store of choice), do you feel that freedom? No agitations. A tranquil mind, a tranquil spirit. We are talking about something so seemingly basic, but in the 21st century in which we live, we are still battling for basic civil rights in our "first world country!"
Let's look at it from a slightly different angle. If you look up "insurance" in the dictionary, it's defined as "coverage by contract whereby one party undertakes to indemnify or guarantee another against loss by a specified contingency or peril." I consider the U.S. Constitution as a contract between We the People and our government. So if we all qualify for this Domestic Tranquility Insurance simply by being citizens, then we should ALL be covered! And honestly, in most areas of my life I have been guaranteed against loss. But I'm not allowed to marry the person I love. And that, to me, is a contingency.. A failure to indemnify me against peril. I saw today where a recent study has shown that the human brain registers heartbreak and being burned in the same manner. Being burned is a peril, wouldn't you say?
What, in your opinion, is a recurring infraction upon your domestic Tranquility? Do you feel like our government is doing all they can to uphold this part of the Constitution? What would TJ say if he were alive today?
Domestic Tranquility...I'm not sure if TJ gave it any thought at the time. If it wouldn't be for the Gay Right's Movement and other movements, I still don't think that the government would give domestic tranquility a second thought. You're speaking of a government who just recently allowed gay/lesbian service men and women to serve openly in the military. You're speaking of a government which currently supports the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). I don't believe that domestic and/or non-domestic tranquility exists in this country. And if TJ were alive today, he'd probably be on some anti-anxiety medication because he sure wouldn't tranquil.
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