With life expectancies now reaching 100, 250 years does not seem that long ago. Yet within those 250 years since our Declaration of Independence, our nation, and indeed our world, has seen the greatest advancements in technology, medicine, architecture, art, transportation, literature, and now space exploration that humanity has ever known.

These things are no accident. They are the progression of human imagination and ingenuity. They are a testament to what happens when human beings are granted their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Prior to the Declaration of Independence, citizens generally served the sovereign; they were often more property than people. After our Declaration of Independence, a new system of government, a wonderful experiment, was born, based on a simple question: What happens when people are truly free? What happens when governments serve the people rather than people serving the government?

Bam! Look at what you get. You get the greatest engine of innovation and human advancement ever created. You get the United States of America.

At 250 years young, we are still going strong. We have the greatest system for deploying capital, improving lives, and growing the economy. Are we perfect? No. It took a Civil War to end slavery, and our economy still leaves some people behind. We have work to do, but after all, this remains an ongoing experiment.

Our future is bright because we know one thing: human beings are the most adaptive species on the planet. That’s why we are at the top of the food chain. And when given freedom and security, there is no limit to what we can accomplish.

So celebrate robustly this Fourth of July. Be proud of what we have done, and hold onto your hat; we are just getting started.

Happy Fourth of July!

Respectfully,

Colonel Eldon Dryden Pence III (Ret.)

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