Morning Folks!!
July 4th is much more than an American Holiday. It is a day to celebrate freedom throughout the world. A day in history in which people triumphed over oppression. Average people overcoming great odds…..isn’t that what life is about? We celebrate history so we don’t repeat past mistakes. However repeating past mistakes is the thing I see most in life.
I know it has been in vogue to beat up on the USA for a while now and apologize for this and that. But today we should offer no apologies nor should we ever. The USA is a great country that has done great things for the world and mankind over and over again and only the arrogant would apologize for that. Only the uninformed would believe that. Only the ill willed would spread that. Only the evil would try and destroy that.
So a big THANK YOU for every soldier to lay his life on the line for humanity before even the USA. To every family that offered their own. Hundreds of years of battle after battle after battle for the simple privilege of having the free will to write this blog and think the thoughts I want to think. Because of them we live in freedom and have escaped the type of tyranny we see in Iran and other places. The type of tyranny governments will impose if you don’t pay attention and learn from history. Indeed we are lucky and sometimes we need to pause and think what life is really about.
If you add up all the people that died in the world throughout history fighting for or against freedom, religion, land and those caught in the gunfire, you would find that number rivals the entire 300 million population of the USA today. All fighting for something we take for granted in this day and age? Here are the numbers just from the USA.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
Andy
I’m British and it’s been my dream ever since my teenage years to live and work in the US. I adore America’s founding principles and values, and nothing would make more sense to me than to identify myself as an American citizen.
Culturally it’s as diverse as Europe, and has a rich and fascinating history that’s inseparable from the story of recent human history.
In my mind it’s the most exciting place on earth, and it’s still a land of opportunity for pioneers.
I wish you all a Happy Independence Day!
Shaun Pilfold
As a Canadian I follow what happens next door a fair amount. One of my favourite quotes about the US is from a Colin Powell speech …
…”We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and we’ve done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home to seek our own, you know, to seek our own lives in peace, to live our own lives in peace…
Happy Independence Day
Successclick
Great respectful article, Rick.
I love America because of the sacrifices our men and women in uniform have made in all the wars, but also the volunteers to help the helpless, the community builders, the conscientious company owner who changes business operations to save jobs, the kindness of those who come to the aid of those in need, the embracing of each other, no matter what race, to make this country like no other, a Shangrila of opportunity and a moral compass for the rest of the world.
I also love this country because we can still, hopefully forever, complain about our mistakes without feeling”guilty”. And I don’t see discussing our mistakes and bad decisions as”attacking” America. I see our concerns as”recognizing our foibles, and working to never let them happen again.” Always growing and evolving to be better, advancing civilization without greed and power in the mix.
Without dissent, we don’t have America. This is the Number One point that makes us all Americans. Those who would deny us the ability to complain, aren’t bathing in the American Spirit. Those who blindly agree with anything America does, even wrongfully, has lost touch with what America is about.
God Bless America, and keep us ranting on, attacking our government when need be, and fighting for what’s right. Bring our troops home, fight to build our country’s infrastructure, and to stop using our troops to die and suffer to advance multinational corporate interests.
Kevin
I spent today with my son at the Ft. Lauderdale swap shop. He’d wanted to get his first job this summer, but I convinced him as a 14 year old they pay you zippo and he could make more money selling stuff and learning to be a merchant. Very proud of him! He was negotiating like crazy and getting good prices and he made more money in 6 hours than the average kid his age will make in a month.
What I want to say though is man is what hot as hell out there. It reminded me of the sheer heat our troops endure each day over in the middle east where temps climb into the 100+ range daily. Imagine going out on patrol with no AC, and carrying your heavy weapon and your 60 pound backpack. So I salute our troops on this Independence day. For all you do for your country is astonishing. You are America’s finest and we are forever grateful for you service to America.