We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. (Declaration of Independence)

Equality and liberty – these are the summits of human empowerment; these are the twinned foundations of democracy. If the Declaration can stake claim to freedom, it is only because it is so clear-eyed about the fact that the people’s strength resides in its equality. We cannot have freedom without equality.  If we abandon equality, we lose the single bond that makes us a community, that makes us a people with the capacity to be free collectively and individually in the first place. (Danielle Allen.  Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality)