What the 4th Should Mean To All
Happy 4th!
Of course, I’m an American, and I just assume all of my readers care about the 4th.
I have readers in France,…
for whom (I’m assuming) le 14 juillet is a much more meaningful date.
I have readers in Canada, and (I’m showing my gross ignorance, here) I believe the 1st of July is their national holiday.
And, of course, I have readers all over the globe who celebrate national holidays at many other times of the year.
I suspect I have more than one reader who, for whatever political reason, is not allowed to celebrate his/her day of national remembrance.
We Americans think the meaning of the 4th is clear. I suspect if you asked me what I treasured about the 4th, and then asked someone whose politics were opposed to mine what they treasured, you would get slightly different answers, maybe even radically different answers.
So when I shout “Happy 4th”, let me help you understand what I mean.
I’ve traveled some. I speak a few languages other than English. I understand that many people abroad view us in less than stellar ways.
Part of this is deserved.
No country, especially not one as powerful as ours, can exist without causing some degree of dislike among other countries.
I don’t want to get into the details of why this exists. I’m just recognizing that it does exist.
I do want to offer both to my countrymen and women, and to all other people another view of what the symbol “America” represents.
We represent Freedom.
“Freedom” is a word very misunderstood, even among ourselves.
Many believe that “Freedom” is somehow equated with lack of pain or challenge.
In fact, it’s the opposite.
That Freedom is not free, is more than a hollow saying. It’s actually the core of the meaning of freedom.
“Freedom” is more responsibility, not less.
In a truly free society, some people are going to end up rich, others poor. Not because the poor were taken advantage of by the rich, but because they made poor decisions.
In a truly free society, some people are going to be healthy and others are going to go the way of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and a whole host of other self-created illnesses. Again, because they made poor choices.
In a truly free society, we’re not going to agree with each other very often. It’s through the synthesis of our goals and our actions that the future is created.
(This is a big one!) In a truly free society, it’s the people who rule, not the politicians. We fought a revolution and got rid of a king. In France, they cut his head off.
I read a saying from an Eastern European country one time. (This was before the fall of the Soviet empire.)
“Kiss the hand you cannot bite!”
I don’t think Patrick Henry (”Give me liberty, or give me death!”) would have subscribed to this plan at all.
So what should the 4th mean to all of us?
A reminder that we need more, not less, freedom.
That freedom, its gifts and its responsibilities, is the birthright of every single human being on the planet.
That freedom is to be cherished.
That it is usually gained through struggle.
That it is always guarded through vigilance against those who would mitigate it.
I hope this 4th of July finds all of my readers all over the globe well and (hopefully) free!
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