Weren’t We Always Extremists?

Hannah Cox ^ | 3 July 2021 | Hannah Cox

[Rummyfan]

The Fourth of July was always a big deal in my family. Most years, we traveled back “home” to Alabama for a large family gathering at my Aunt Linda’s house. When I was very young, the highlight of the day came at the end when we would head to the Oxford Lake (which I must emphasize was actually a pond) and watch fireworks the local fire department set off over it. My Uncle Dennis was one of those firemen, and I took such pride in knowing one of my relatives was responsible for that magical display.

As I aged, that same pride always coursed through me on this holiday. In analyzing it in hindsight, so much of my pride in my country was entwined with pride in my family, who I think to this day embody the American Dream.

I come from humble roots. My Dad’s father had an eighth-grade education and worked in a pipe factory to provide for his family. They were poor, even hunting opossum to eat at times, but he always met their needs and gave them a solid upbringing. When he graduated, my Dad became the first person in his family to go to college —working multiple jobs and running track, which he hated, on scholarship to put himself through.

My mom’s parents were similarly poor. That grandfather went to college on a GI Bill scholarship, attending in the evenings while he worked to provide for his young wife and three daughters. He went on to build a successful career in the grocery business, owning a chain of stores in Alabama that my parents met while working in.

There are countless other stories like this in my family tree. Stand-up people of character, working hard and taking advantage of the opportunities afforded to them...

[Rummyfan]

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

[Rummyfan]

When we said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” the reality is that this principle had been self-evident to practically no one throughout thousands of years of history. When we said that all men are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” it got people’s attention, and suddenly others began to agree. When we said humans are entitled to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” it became a violation to impede such things. But make no mistake. These notions were not mainstream when our founders threw down the gauntlet with the Declaration of Independence.

[Paal Gulli]

"Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice.
Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue."

[ProgressingAmerica]

I was just thinking that very thing from Goldwater.

It’s the people who want authoritarian government in any form who are extreme. The people who want limited government and are willing, even, to die for it, are quite rational.

[Uncle Miltie]

[JimRed]

MY T-shirt design:

WHITE
By accident of birth

NATIONALIST
Through love of America

DEAL WITH IT!