Been pondering today how thrilled I am to have:
- the political freedom to write five blogs,
- the economic freedom to run my own company the way I wish and see as much success as my effort, skills, & drive can create independent of the income level of my father when I was born or where his parents came from, and
- the religious freedom to worship as I see the bible suggests worship should be conducted, in a church where the preacher preaches the word as we in my fellowship believe it ought to be preached, and I can teach the bible as we believe it is meant to be taught.
That freedom is a rarity on the earth today and unheard of for all of history until around, oh, say 300 years ago.
Oh how I wish that everyone on the planet could be blessed with that economic, political, and religious freedom.
Whether the level of freedoms in the US have gone up or down over the last 1, 10, or 80 years is a topic for another day. I wish everyone could share what we have here.
William Easterly says that more clearly and succinctly than me in his post, Just a Few Words.
It starts with a graphic clip of the declaration of Independence that says
all men are created equal,
It’s been 238 years, and we have been fighting to realize those words ever since.
Another clip showing:
unalienable Rights
Many around the world now see these words as universal and not specific to any nation, race, or culture.
Final clip saying
We mutually pledge to each other our lives,
Prof Easterly’s closing comments:
Those are words for which people risk their lives.
All of us who care about these words will never give up until they apply to everyone.
Count me in.