We too often call it the “Fourth of July” and lose sight of its true meaning – independence. Independence from tyranny and the freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness.
America’s founding unleashed the greatest leap forward in human history. From this leap, liberty and prosperity followed – and not just material prosperity, but also prosperity of the human spirit. After all, that is what happiness is all about; not some transitory joy over a good joke or an amusing moment in life.
Independence and thus liberty did not come easily. It took decades for the colonies to move from discontentment to revolution to independence. The seeds of the revolution were planted long, long before 1775 or 1776.
I share this not because we are in the patriotic season. I share it because all of us in Illinois need historical perspective.
I talk to many of you who are frustrated by our state’s challenges. Many of you express envy for the political victories that swept the country a few years ago in seemingly every state but Illinois. I feel those pangs of frustration myself as I have watched policy victories unfold in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, New Jersey (New Jersey!), Indiana, Florida and elsewhere. It is hard to watch the march of liberty elsewhere when it seems we remain bottled up in trench warfare here.
But despair not. The seeds of victory in Illinois are being sown today. They are growing and gaining strength. We cannot always see the progress, but there are clear hints all around us.
Read more here.
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