10d • General discussion
On Personal and National Liberty
On this day in 1776, the United States declared its independence from Britain. It wasn't merely a political separation.
It was a revolution in the way governments were understood.
The American Declaration of Independence proclaimed that every human being is created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights—among them Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Governments do not grant these rights. They exist to protect them. Their legitimacy comes only from the consent of the governed.
That idea changed the Western world.
I myself am not American. I was born in Canada and today live in Israel. Yet I have always deeply admired what the United States represents at its best: the idea that individual liberty is not granted by the state, but protected by it.
There is a reason the Iranian regime has long referred to America as the "Great Satan" and Israel as the "Little Satan." Tyrants fear free societies because liberty threatens every system built on coercion, oppression, and fear.
Exactly 200 years later, on July 4th, 1976, Israel demonstrated what those principles sometimes require.
After Palestinian terrorists hijacked Air France Flight 139 and held more than one hundred Jewish and Israeli hostages at Entebbe Airport in Uganda, Israel launched one of the most daring rescue operations in modern military history. Israeli commandos flew over 2,500 miles under complete secrecy, rescued 102 hostages, eliminated the terrorists, and returned home.
The operation was led by Lt. Col. Yonatan (Yoni) Netanyahu, the older brother of Israel's current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Yoni was the only Israeli soldier killed during the mission.
An Israeli song about the operation contains a line that has always stayed with me: "At midnight they rose and struck at the edge of the world... to restore the dignity of man." I don't know of a better one-sentence summary of Operation Entebbe.
It wasn't merely about rescuing hostages.
It was about declaring that a free nation does not abandon its people, and that human dignity and liberty are worth crossing continents—and risking lives—to defend.
On this day in 1995, my family immigrated to Israel.
For us, it wasn't simply moving to another country. It was coming home. It was closing a nearly 2,000-year chapter of Jewish exile and returning to live under a government chosen by our own people after centuries without that privilege.
So for me, the Fourth of July has become much more than America's Independence Day. It reminds me that freedom has three stages.
First, it must be declared.
Then it must be defended.
Finally, we must choose to live it.
That is true politically.
It is also true personally.
One of the reasons I wrote Think and Grow Rich Like a Jew is because I believe financial freedom is another expression of that same ideal.
Freedom from unnecessary debt.
Freedom from living paycheck to paycheck.
Freedom to provide for your family.
Freedom to create value.
Freedom to pursue your purpose rather than merely survive.
Every declaration of independence begins with a decision.
America declared independence from tyranny.
Israel demonstrated that liberty is worth defending.
My family declared independence by returning home after nearly two thousand years of exile.
Today, perhaps it's your turn.
Declare your independence from debt.
From scarcity. From fear. From living below your potential.
Political freedom changed the world.
Personal and financial freedom can change your life.
One final personal note.
Since my third marriage, the Fourth of July has taken on yet another meaning for our family. It is also the anniversary of the passing of my wife's father. Every year, we light a memorial candle in his memory.
So for me, this date has become a reminder that life is measured not only by the freedoms we inherit, but also by the legacy we leave behind.
May we always have the courage to defend liberty, the wisdom to preserve it, and the gratitude to remember those who came before us.
Happy 250th Independence Day, Fellow American and all those who enjoy the freedoms of the modern world
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On Personal and National Liberty
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