What We Fought For

In a speech to the Second Continental Congress in 1776, then representative John Adams said, “While I live, let me have a country - a free country.”


Our founding fathers gave us a vision and a gift that has stood for over two centuries. Born from the chains of an oppressive British crown, the republic that our founders helped create is one that has allowed people to live free and pursue happiness through their own means. This novel idea is not only granted to us by the providence of God, but by a constitution many believe to be the crowning achievement of a free society.


Two hundred and thirty-three years later, what would those same founders say if they saw the District of Colombia today?


Today, we live in a United States that taxes almost everything we buy or create. Our government asks CEO’s of private businesses to resign. It thinks you should eat a soy burger rather than a hamburger. They spend our money as if it were their own. We have representatives that don’t listen to their constituency, but rather push through an agenda that benefits them.


Today, we have a president who relishes in the thought of spending billions in taxpayer dollars to achieve a “21st century healthcare system” that looks more like France and Canada than the United States; where workers can unite under one banner of socialistic hope and be catered to with government handouts and other various entitlements. The previous president signed earmark-laced spending bills into law like they were autographed baseballs from his Texas Rangers days. We have a Speaker of the House who values the life habits of a field mouse in California rather than the people she represents.


The oppressive and cavalier nature of our government has not reached an apogee yet, but if we do not stay vigilant in the cause of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, we only have ourselves to blame. An elected government can easily restrict one’s rights, but as a free people, we are charged as the stewards of that government which will achieve greater power only if we let it.


Slogans from the 1770’s are returning with renewed cause. “Join or Die” and “Don’t Tread on Me” represent the fervor and ideas of a revolution that resonates today. From the tea parties of that century to the tea parties of this past April, people are beginning to speak out in the cause of what we originally fought for.


But what was it that we fought for? A free country? A representative democracy? A government free from an oppressive monarchy?


What we fought for was - and still is - an idea that is one of the most noble and idealistic in all of humanity. To think that a free and open democracy with people of varying backgrounds, religions and beliefs could stand for two hundred and thirty-three years is at the very least an amazing feat. To think that this Union has withstood a civil war, two world wars, and a devastating depression is inspiring. And to think that these United States have achieved unimagined marvels that include flight, the internet and a walk by man on the moon is at the very least a testament to the innovation that springs forth in a free country.


What we fought for was not just for the birth of a country, but for the birth of an idea that has manifested into that “shining city on a hill” as Reagan so eloquently described us.


Today, we are charged with preserving that city and to hold true on the original ideas of that fight for freedom waged many years ago. We must spread and keep the values of our fathers and grandfathers by working hard and relying on our own achievements, not advancing in the graces of Uncle Sam. We must remind our representatives that they are in Washington, D.C. for us, not for their own personal gain. We must remind the executives in the White House that we are a republic founded on freedoms that encompass all aspects of life, including separation of “business and state” and “healthcare and state”.


The innovation and free-thinking that got us to where we are today will carry us into the 21st century, not government. As a people, we American’s have always aspired to be more than the sum or our parts. Without freedom, those dreams are nothing more than a thought lost in time.


On this 4th of July, honor the revolution that gave birth to a nation of freedom-loving people. Stand tall when you see the flag while cooking out. When reading an op-ed, give thanks that you can actually read it. And when enjoying the relative tranquility of these United States, realize that maintaining our cherished peace and freedom is the responsibility of we, the people.


On this 4th of July, remember what we fought for.


ER