Without these things in place, you can't rely on people raising all the problems you need to hear about. #principleoftheday

Happy 4th of July! God, I love this day with my family and friends savoring a classic July 4th BBQ, drinks, and camaraderie followed by all of us watching a big fireworks display. I also can't help but wonder what principles bind us together today and have connected us from July 4, 1776 until now. I recently reviewed the history of the area that we now call the United States which began long before Europeans came for the treasures they could grab during the Age of Exploration and continued through the settlement of the eastern continent, the settlement of the Wild West, slavery, the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, the two World Wars, and the booms, busts, and a lot more up until now. My independent study led me to realize that the real story of the United States is very different from the one I was taught in school—it’s much more realistic and less idealistic. Now, when I look back with a more objective eye at examples like the fight between the cowboys and Indians (e.g., at Custer’s Last Stand) and the Texans and Mexicans (at the Alamo), and I look at what has really happened throughout history between people and at how people really behave, I realize that most people just fight for what they want, that most people define good as what they want and who is on their side and bad as those people and things that are against them, and that what has shaped American civility and what binds Americans together is the governance system as laid out in the Constitution. Without the Constitution and Americans abiding by it, only power and the powerful would rule, and we would fight for what we each want with greater ferocity until we beat each other into a barbarian state. Of course, the Constitution and abiding by it leaves us with a lot that we don’t like. While we individually might not like those who we collectively elect or agree with the laws that they write or the Supreme Court decisions made, the fact that we abide by the set of rules in the Constitution—which are far more powerful than any person or group of people—binds us together, and prevents us from being brutal with each other. As I now savor this peaceful day and look forward to the fireworks, I now can see the connection between these joys, our shared history, and the Constitution that makes it all possible. That brings me comfort. Thank God for the Constitution and our respect for it. May it continue, and continue to evolve, in the future as it has in the past.