A BORNEO FOURTH

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For me, this is an exceedingly cool way to celebrate the Fourth of July – handing a banana to a wild orang utan along a river in Borneo.

I’ve been on a houseboat on Borneo rivers for the past few days.  This photo was taken earlier today.

I am here doing what I’ve loved to do my whole life – explore and have adventures in remote places in the world.  I’ve been able to do this because I’m an American.

Sure, people from other countries are able to have the life they want, including one devoted to adventure – but it’s more difficult to do so.

It’s easier to do so in America than any other place on earth – because of the founding principles of our country that we celebrate today.

No other nation or society in human history was founded on the moral right to individual freedom than America – that you, me, and all of us have the moral right to our own personal life, our own personal liberty, and to pursue our own personal happiness.

And more, much more.  That the only – only – moral purpose of government is to protect and enable the exercise of these sacred rights of its citizens.  Any other rationale for government guns and power over its citizens is immoral and illegitimate.

Which means of course that the federal monstrosity that exists today in Washington DC, with its tentacles spread into every nook and cranny of our country and infesting every aspect of our lives, is an outlaw government of banditry and rapacity existing astronomically beyond the legality provided for it by the Constitution.

Thus what we don’t celebrate today is what exists today.  What we do celebrate is the essence of our existence as Americans.

That essence lies in our Declaration of Independence.  It is not simply a declaration of Colonial America’s collective freedom from the rule of England and its King.  It is also a declaration that every individual American is free to choose how to best pursue their goals in life honestly and peacefully.

I have chosen a particular way – and have been able to because of my American freedom to choose.  Countless Americans have chosen countless other ways to exercise this freedom.

In this context, it’s not important what path they choose.  What’s important is the freedom to exercise their choice, and the immorality of any government thug or bureaucrat who gets in their way.

I believe that the single most important thing to teach your children or grandchildren on this day is to understand and have the deepest respect for the moral essence of their being American.

That’s something to consider as you read the Declaration of Independence with your family today.  Have a wonderful, joyful, and happy Fourth of July!