This yr could also be the most costly Fourth of July cookout any American has skilled.
AP/Patrick Semansky
Two-hundred forty-six years in the past, 13 colonies boldly declared their independence. They did so in opposition to the British empire, which on the time possessed the best navy energy on Earth. The explanations for this declaration weren't spurious, and our Founders didn't take the implications of their resolution calmly. Benjamin Franklin stated because the Declaration of Independence was signed that “we should all hold collectively, or most assuredly, we'll all hold individually.” Such had been the stakes of this monumental second in historical past.
Our forebears had been prepared to threat the whole lot for a dream. A dream of freedom and of alternative. A dream that claims irrespective of the place you come from, it doesn't matter what your background is, for those who work exhausting and stay actually and justly, you possibly can succeed. That is the American Dream.
Our tribulations
In the present day this dream could appear much less attainable. Considerably due to actual issues: skyrocketing fuel costs and runaway inflation. However considerably, too, due to false narratives: America is racist, or America is in decline or authorities dependency is healthier than self-reliance.
Sure, issues are powerful right this moment. Empty meals cabinets are showing in grocery shops for the primary time in many years. The ever-increasing value for households to place meals on their tables and fuel of their automobiles is an acute problem confronted by all Individuals, in each nook of our republic. Certainly, these issues are hitting our working and middle-class households more durable than anybody — that is seemingly the most costly Fourth of July cookout any household in America has skilled of their lifetime. For a lot of, the American Dream now might appear to have misplaced its luster.
In instances of triumph and trial, Individuals have at all times and can at all times discover methods to return collectively. Not divided by race or gender or class or area; however as a single, indivisible individuals dedicated to the frequent good of this nation we love. We are able to do that right this moment by remembering what makes America distinctive and dedicate ourselves, as soon as extra, to safeguarding the enduring rules upon which it was based. If we will do that, we'll quickly discover the American Dream not solely restored however stuffed with better promise than ever earlier than.
Once I consider the American Dream, I consider my Grandma Grace and Grandpa Earl. They married one another at 6:30 within the morning as a result of Earl didn’t need to be late for work. Grandma Grace couldn’t afford to be late, both — she served as PTA president 4 instances, led a number of Woman Scout troops, was a precinct committeewoman and made a lot of the garments worn by their 10 kids. Every was devoted to serving the neighborhood they lived in, and to offering for the household that they had constructed collectively. They upheld this dedication even within the harshest instances in our nation’s historical past. Such are the sorts of individuals upon which the nation we've got inherited was constructed: individuals outlined by their ethic of exhausting work, self-sufficiency and, above all, an abiding love for these they held pricey.
That is the American Dream. It’s not one thing handed to us, as a present, by a authorities. It's one thing we alone can create and notice, and we will solely achieve this in a nation that safeguards the God-given freedoms with which our Creator has blessed us.
Our triumphs
Allow us to not overlook the trials we've got overcome. From two world wars, to devastating terrorist assaults, to a worldwide pandemic. By all of it, Individuals prevailed. We received these wars. We rose from the ashes of 9/11. Throughout the darkish days of COVID, church buildings stayed open to present hope to the remoted, sick and poor in spirit, households homeschooled their kids when faculties turned them away, and lots of companies fought their means again from the brink of chapter. The American individuals are certainly distinctive, and this turns into most evident after we are examined.
America wants a brand new message. Not one among defeat and decline, however one among important optimism, grounded within the timeless, sacred rules of our nation: that we're all created equal, that we're “endowed by our Creator with sure unalienable rights, that amongst these are the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” These phrases, penned by Thomas Jefferson earlier than he would function America’s first secretary of state, are alive within the hearts of each American right this moment, regardless of the challenges earlier than us. They abided in me as I used to be sworn in as America’s seventieth secretary of state and director of the Central Intelligence Company, and earlier than once I served in Congress and the Military.
On July 4, 1863, the Union Military stood triumphant at Gettysburg, however at an excellent and bloody price. At no time in historical past has our nation been so divided, or our future so unsure. President Abraham Lincoln got here to that nice battlefield and known as upon his countrymen to dedicate themselves in order that “this nation, beneath God, shall have a brand new start of freedom, and that authorities of the individuals, by the individuals, for the individuals, shall not perish from the earth.”
This exhortation echoes down generations, and America will reply it right this moment, simply as we at all times have. Could God bless you, your households, and the US of America on our Independence Day.
Mike Pompeo served as secretary of state (2018-2021) and director of the Central Intelligence Company (2017-2018).
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