Even though I am largely retired from blogging and writing Op-Eds for newspapers, I figured I should dust myself off on our nation's 250th birthday to offer my two cents on where we have come and where we are going.
First, it is clear that the Founding Fathers created the greatest experiment in world history. No other country has accomplished as much as the United States in such a short period of time. And, without question, no place has given the world as great a gift and example as we have. Our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and philosophical foundation of life, liberty, and private property, combined with what we did for the planet during World War II and the Cold War, are, without question, a gift every human over the last 250 years should be grateful for.
Then, of course, is our largely capitalist model, based on innovation and on Adam Smith's belief that gaining wealth by serving your fellow man is a noble cause. We have given the world an endless array of things that it needs - and just as much stuff that it does not need, but wants - while showing other nations that you do not have to be poor and stuck in the past. Along the way, we and we alone, have been the nation that has signaled other people around the world that if they are sick of high taxes, lack of property rights, rules, regulations, and corrupt governments, they can just come over here and start all over with no promises, but genuine opportunity.
It is also a fact that in many ways our nation enjoys more freedom than it did on July 4, 1776.
The horrific institution of slavery ended. Women who had been denied their rights as citizens eventually gained all of them. American Indians no longer face annihilation. People who are not heterosexual enjoy the same constitutional and human rights as everyone else. Our mistreatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II has never been replicated since. We no longer hunt down suspected Communists, as evidenced by all of the near-Communists running for office these days. The list is endless...
Yes, our nation had zero income taxes in 1776, and now we are shaken down by the government every April 15th. Eminent domain abuse, rampant regulations, endless lawsuits, crony capitalism, the creation of the welfare state, and our astronomical national debt would all cause the Founders to shake their heads in collective disbelief.
So would the quality of our current politicians. From the right, we have the rise of Nationalism, state capitalism, and the economically idiotic stance that somehow free trade and immigration are bad for our nation. In our Constitution, the Founders sought to make trade "normal" and had no provision for tariffs other than as a source of revenue. They were never meant to be protective or arbitrarily punitive. Our Founders also understood the importance of the free movement of human beings to make our nation truly rich and great. This belief has died, too, in the Republican Party.
The Democrats are no better. Rather than use July 4, 2026, as a moment to say, "Hey, let's find another John F. Kennedy or hell, even Bill Clinton", instead, the modern Democratic Party has embraced Karl Marx.
Both parties are now on a course that has our nation's future - and July 4, 2076 - in jeopardy of looking very different from what it does today.
But, relative to the rest of the world and compared to every other nation that has ever existed, those of us who have lived here all, or most of our lives, have a lot to be thankful for.
Ben Franklin was once asked, "So, Mr. Franklin, what kind of government did you create for us?"
His answer?
"A Republic...if we can keep it."
Precisely.
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