We will be celebrating the birth of America on July 4. However, with every passing year, our “leaders,” “educators” and “intellectuals” move us further away from the real meaning of Independence Day. They stress patriotism, interdependence, the “greater good,” egalitarianism, code words for collectivism and fealty to the state.
Even our revered Pledge of Allegiance is not a pledge to individual liberty and freedom, the concepts upon which America was founded. It is a pledge to the nation, state and empire. It is a subtle, or maybe not so subtle, attack on states’ rights, and therefore the individual.
The founders, an enlightened and committed minority, declared their independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain 237 years ago. In winning the War of Independence in 1783, for the first time in history a country was founded on moral principle. This principle recognized that people owned themselves. They were no longer enslaved to serfdom, owned by their government, clan or tribe. This freedom gave them the opportunity to achieve and keep the fruits of their labor without confiscation through burdensome taxation by those that live off of those that produce.
The voluntary union of the United States of America has devolved greatly since inception. The list of abuses and usurpations by a leviathan centralized federal government far exceeds those perpetrated on the colonies by King George III.
By celebrating July 4, we celebrate independence and honor the founder’s legacy. In understanding, sharing and celebrating the real meaning of Independence Day, we make a stand for freedom while rightfully diminishing the legitimacy of the state.