I love everything about the 4th of July, and the 250th anniversary is especially great for me because I am joining with family and friends for a reading of the Declaration of Independence, a BBQ, and fireworks.
As I reflect on what has happened over the 250 years that followed July 4th, 1776, it seems like an impossible dream come true. Think about it. Imagine that at the outset on July 4th, 1776, you were asked what odds for success a country would have if it would be mostly made up of poor immigrants coming from all different countries with very different cultures and religions and it would be governed by a political system in which the leaders reported to these people who themselves had to vote, compromise, and submit to life-changing decisions that many disagreed with. Would you bet that it would do exceptionally well and improve for 250 years? I would have thought that virtually impossible, yet America has been exceptional for 250 years.
I also see that it was shockingly terrific and lucky for me to have lived through the best part of those 250 years because I was born four years after the 1945 post-World War II beginning of the new American world order, which gave me the best time in history in the best place in the world.
These reflections give me a deep appreciation for the principles and practices—the secret sauce—that created and sustained this remarkable American story, a fear that we are losing sight of them, and a sense of responsibility to contribute to sustaining them.
Patriotism is love for your country’s culture and people. It is defensive.
Nationalism is love for your country’s state. It is power-based.
This is the essence of the distinction Orwell drew between the two terms.
Happy 250th Birthday, America! 🇺🇸🎆
250 years of freedom, courage, and the American dream.
Grateful for every founder, veteran, and hero who made it possible.
Land of the free. Home of the brave. Forever.
God bless the USA! ❤️🤍💙
The Founders didn’t promise happiness, they protected the pursuit of it. No other nation’s founding document made one’s right to chase their dreams a core purpose.
That’s why America has always been the ultimate haven for the world’s most ambitious. Grateful to call it home ❤️🇺🇸
Ford is done.
GM is done.
Honda is done.
Toyota is dying.
Now FOUR of my employees have bought Tesla Model Y vehicles. They let me drive one. I was blown away... again. Full-Self Driving (FSD) is highly evolved. Human-like in its decisions. Feels safer than any human driver.
I told my staff to install a couple of charging stations at my company parking lot. We're going to offer free charging to any employee that drives an EV. (F*ck gas prices and war in the Persian Gulf!)
The future of personal transport vehicles on this planet belongs to Tesla, BYD, CATL and maybe a couple of other companies. And all of them will be EVs.
At this point, driving a combustion engine vehicle for daily tasks seems obsolete.
And I don't believe a single thing about climate alarmism and all those cultists who hate carbon dioxide. EVs make sense simply from an economics perspective: They're a fraction of the cost to operate, and much simpler to maintain (no oil changes, no engine air filter, no fuel filter, etc.). Plus, you can charge them from sunlight and get entirely off-grid with your "fuel" supply. (I'll be publishing videos showing this in my studio soon.)
Yes, I used to mock EVs. I once said I would never ride in a self-driving vehicle. I was wrong. The technology has been transformed. Battery chemistry improvements have enabled solid range capabilities and very good specifications on charge/discharge cycles. Tesla's FSD capabilities are far stronger than I thought was possible. They've outdone themselves.
Now, I'm absolutely convinced: I will never buy another combustion engine vehicle again.