E82 on Independence

Tomorrow will be better as long as America keeps alive the ideals of freedom and a better life.
— Walt Disney

Celebrating the Birth of Our Nation is, to me, one of the most important holidays of the year and second ONLY to honoring the Birth and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. For in the course of human events, nothing has affected the progress of life on this Earth more than that life and this republic.

To spite its constant presence in our daily lives, the mere existence of an entire country founded solely on ideas becomes more miraculous with each passing year. A land-based on potential rather than parentage is a remarkably forward-thinking concept that empowers its citizens to create their futures instead of confining them to their past.

It is in this spirit that America has revolutionized most of our planet, for which every innovation of the last 200+ years is due to the principles brought forth by our founding fathers. From the Industrial Revolution to the Digital Frontier, all of our collective progress originates from, what Abraham Lincoln called: “our experiment in popular government” for which the entire world has looked for inspiration.

It is quite clear and irrefutable that without our nation’s embedded innovative spirit we would have never seen the likes of Franklin, Edison, Einstein, Lamarr, Disney, Lucas, or Jobs (just to name a few). And it is because of this that I feel truly blessed and most grateful to live in a time and place where I can humbly stand on the shoulders of many giants and endeavor, always, to live up to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created this land — and to inspire others, as best I can, to restore faith in our ability to shape a world that offers hope to people everywhere.

Among the many quotes encircling the Great Hall of The American Adventure, the most centrally located is by a woman who taught me the most about what it means to be an American individualist. Directly across the Rotunda and embossed in gold letters it reads…

“Throughout the Centuries
There Were Men
Who Took First Steps
Down New Roads
Armed with Nothing
But Their Own Vision.”

— Ayn Rand