We hold these truths to be self-evident

Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O’er the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?

Our freedom has never been perfect, and probably never will be. In some ways we are more free than we used to be, in others, less. The needle moves back and forth, but the general trend is up.

250 years ago the Declaration of Independence announced the foundation of a new nation enshrining the notion of human rights – rights that no tyrant, no state, and no majority may legitimately violate – as its founding principle. Imperfectly.

But the American Revolution started a trend toward freedom all over the world.

Today, as a result, the entire First World lives in the freest, wealthiest, healthiest, safest, fairest societies that have ever existed on the face of the Earth. This is underappreciated – much tyranny, poverty, disease, danger, and injustice still exist. But we’re doing better than ever before.

That is something to celebrate.

(Credit to Neal Stephenson for inspiration.)