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steven lightfoot's avatar

Love this. I am Canadian, but feel a close connection to the American founding documents and value. American patriotism is indeed about celebrating an ideal, which is why I celebrate July 4 even in Canada.

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Betsy's avatar

Forgot to mention my aunt was also an "Ivy League historian".

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Betsy's avatar

Thank you, thank you, thank you. The powerful emotion I felt while reading this piece caused me to well up with tears. I love America with every particle of my being. My DAR aunt who was a historian was my mentor. I thank God she cannot experience how far some like Haselby just "don't get it".

She would have loved you sir. Again thanks and have a marvelous and patriotic Independence Day. ❤️🇺🇲

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Alex Livingston's avatar

I'm not American, but I have a newly forged respect for America, or at least the America that was before the unspeakably depraved supranational imperium infiltrated it like the filaments of mould rotting an orange.

That said, I don't see the need to invoke a “creator” to confer equal “rights” on all humans. Rather, isn't (very nearly) every individual's quality of life—freedom from adversity—maximized if every individual is prosocial rather than antisocial, cultivates friendship rather than enmity, helps rather than hurts, seeks peace rather than conflict, collaborates rather than competes, loves rather than hates? For one never knows that the tables won't turn and power imbalances won't be reversed. And adding others' power to one's own power for mutual gain results in greater gain for oneself than using one's power to reduce others' power.

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