The news readers on TV are currently touting a recent Gallop poll claiming In U.S., Record-Low 47% Extremely Proud to Be Americans. In the unlikely event that I would even answer a phone call from a pollster I would probably say I was proud. But in reality, what I feel is a sense of good fortune to be an American. And we owe it to our founding fathers.
The Declaration of Independence said this:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Actually, those were radical words back in the day. History up until then is full of autocratic governments that didn't recognize those rights at all.
Hannah Cox has an interesting piece online titled Weren’t We Always Extremists? Here's an excerpt:
When we said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” the reality is that this principle had been self-evident to practically no one throughout thousands of years of history. When we said that all men are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” it got people’s attention, and suddenly others began to agree. When we said humans are entitled to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” it became a violation to impede such things. But make no mistake. These notions were not mainstream when our founders threw down the gauntlet with the Declaration of Independence. [Bold added.]
Citizens of the U.S. are the luckiest people on the planet. Happy 4th of July!