Today is the 250th anniversary of American independence. During this time, I find it important to reflect on the virtues of the greatest nation, for whose existence we can all be grateful. It's not hyperbole to say that the establishment of America is the most important achievement in our history. This is the nation where we had the courage to respect reason over dogma, where we can be individuals, and where we can be free. Its values are the prerequisite for prosperity and civilizational flourishing, and having cemented them here is something to treasure and protect. America provides us with the place where we can strive to achieve our desires, and where we can engage one another as rational individuals. A place where we can reshape the nature we were dealt to our preferences. It's where you could've seen horse carriages crowding through a muddy New York City as a child, and witnessed your flag planted on the Moon in the very same lifetime. It's where we alleviated the tyranny of day and night with the mass production of cheap light. Where we said no to disease, while saying yes to the prospect of flight. Where we decided to say: it doesn't have to be this way, it can always be better. Only here has that been possible without any fear of persecution, and with encouragement. In this moment, let's not forget that the achievement of America was not guaranteed. We should not take it for granted. In some ways it's remarkable that we didn't remain in swamps throwing rocks at each other, or trapped as peasants in warring countries run by despots, in a constant state of confusion and emotional despair. Instead, the courage to be free, to be independent, to let people find their own way and achieve their dreams, won. Amongst the many reasons for this, let's be thankful first for the brave men and women of 13 colonies who established an independent nation on this abundant continent. They understood the formula for prosperity, and had the courage to fight for it. That courage, of finding our own place in this world, and of defending our right to do it, exists here to this day. The nation has never been perfect, and has at times been hellish to many for unjustifiable reasons. Yet, throughout this country's lifetime, its foundational spirit of inalienable freedom and equality has remained, and has continued to carve away the evils that disgust us, leaving a bastion of morality and hope for all. We can be grateful for the 250 years of courage that brought us here. The courage that established this country, and has carried it forward ever since. We should cherish its ethos, and continue to defend it, considering that all our lives and the future of our species depend on it. So, today I say thank you to America. To all those who fought for this ideal when it was only a glimmer of hope throughout the ages. To those who established the nation. And to those who helped build and maintain it.