Happy 250, United States of America.
Keep the spirit of liberty alive!
What would the founders of the U.S.A. think if they could see the nation created under their Constitution today? (What would Jesus think if he could see the church that operates under his name today? But that can be a topic for another time.)
Would they recognize the constitutional republic created to protect everyone’s Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness—a land of freedom and opportunity, a government of the people, by the people and for the people? How would they respond to the bureaucratic federal system resulting from that dream that now seeks to regulate virtually everything—the airspace, broadcast media, who can bear arms, the plants that people can grow and possess, banking and securities, environmental emissions, and more.
Did they plan for the government of the U.S.A. to be in the education business, the insurance business and the retirement fund business?
How would they react to the fact that this nation, the land of freedom, holds the highest number of incarcerated individuals in the world?
Could they foresee the sophisticated network of roads and bridges used for motor vehicle travel across this beautiful land? Maybe they would appreciate that; the roads are useful for the vast majority of people.
Perhaps they would be proud that the government protected sprawling swaths of national parks for all to enjoy.
But what of the military machine—having war and conflict with and occupation of nearly every other nation on the Earth over the past 200 years?
Does protecting liberty look like requiring children to attend government schools? Trying to dictate which medications Americans should take?
The feds order runaway production of U.S. currency backed by neither silver nor gold.
The land of freedom now tracks, surveils and spies—and quite likely, on occasion, assassinates—its own citizens and runs clandestine projects and covert operations at home and abroad.
Is this the land of freedom and constitutional Republic that they envisioned?
If you don’t like it, do something about it. It is very difficult for the average middle-class American to stand up against the elites and the system, but sometimes it only takes a spark to get a fire going.
Still, despite its flaws, the best I can tell, these United States of America remain one of the greatest places in the history of the world to reside, run a business, raise a family, travel around and operate in peace. The land is highly tolerant of different views, cultures, ethnicities and types of people.
And it’s the greatest ice hockey nation on the face of the Earth!
Let’s see what they can do in soccer, as the World Cup continues in the U.S.A. this July.
Let us preserve the protection of life, liberty and property, take seriously the responsibility of self-governance and continue this great experiment, the first land in the history of the world governed by a document, a legal set of rules and limits, rather than the will of a monarch or dictator.
Stand up to tyranny. Happy summer.
