Tonight I strolled seaside, passing Alabama plated RVs blaring tejano oom pah pah. Organic produce (Cali) and smores (Hershey, PA) commingled in my belly. An iPod (Culpertino) ladled panhandle twang upon my ears. And overhead, Boeing jetliners (Seattle) climbed invisible mountains toward a living dream born 235 years ago.
Our gloriously manifold nation grew from a refusal to compromise ideals. The audacity of this philosophy demanded nothing less than a Declaration of Independence, not merely from King George III’s England, but from the entirety of human time. Heroically, 56 enlightened men screwed their courage to the sticking post, signature by signature asserting they valued the faintest hope for a just world above living upon an unjust one. We the people are their legacy.
So this July 4th, please read the reason for the day off. Be inspired. Go forth and trust your truth no matter how isolating. Band together your philosophical brethren. Wage revolution until the world accords to the clarion call of your heart. Idealism DOES work - we were proof of it once; may we continue to declare our independence and remain so today.
