By Printus LeBlanc

Wednesday, July 4th will mark the 242nd anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The bold death-defying act created the greatest country the world has ever known. Yes, the nation has made mistakes, just as every other nation on the planet has, but no nation has advanced the cause of liberty and human rights more than the U.S. I for one am eternally grateful I live in the U.S. and would have it no other way.

No nation on earth has the upward mobility the United States has. People often speak negatively about the 1 percent but never realize 80 percent of millionaires are the first generation of their family to attain that level of wealth. They do not inherit their wealth, as the media and left would have you believe from family members.

One-third of the newly rich are entrepreneurs, far more than the in the banking or finance industry, 14 percent. The typical myths of the 1 percent not working for their money and the banking industry dominating the list are busted. The data shows if someone has an idea and works hard enough they can achieve the American dream.

In the rest of the world, there are caste systems, religious tests, or ethnic blocks that prevent people from moving up the economic ladder – not in the U.S..

Despite the left’s numerous attempts to quell the First Amendment lately, the U.S. is the world’s preeminent practitioner of free speech, and the Supreme Court, last month affirmed the right to free speech in two landmark cases.

In the Janus decision , local government unions were appropriating membership fees towards political speech, against the will of the members. This was allowed because many states passed laws not giving government union members a choice to opt out of the political activities. The Supreme Court disagreed with the practice and held that forcing members to pay fees for political speech is a violation of the First Amendment.

The court also ruled the government cannot compel speech in the NIFLA v. Becerra case . The California government was forcing pregnancy-resource centers to advertise for abortions, something the clinics believed not only violated its free speech but their religious freedom also. SCOTUS agreed and ruled the California government violated the Constitution by compelling speech.

Everywhere else in the world, when the government says “jump,” the citizens are supposed to say, “how high .” In the U.S., the citizens have the right to free speech, which also means the freedom to not speak.

While people around the globe are jailed for reporting the news, in the U.S., the press is protected. In Turkey, journalists are jailed for reporting on issues the dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan doesn’t want reported on. In the U.S. when journalists harass President Trump he mocks them, they get their own TV show, and everyone is happy. No one goes to jail as they do in London , and no one is killed like they are in Russia . Despite their constant whining, nowhere in the world do journalists have the freedom they do than here in the U.S.

If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you undoubtedly noticed the media coverage of protests across the nation. This past week it was about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). Two weeks ago, it was about the Second Amendment, and two weeks before that it was about trade issues. The point is, people are allowed to assemble peaceably. In Iran, protesters are shot for protesting. In Syria, protests led to a civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands. The Chinese government ran over people with tanks when its people protested.

But not here. In the U.S. the authorities are not on the other side of the protesters, the authorities are protecting those protesting.

Diversity is the favorite word of the left, and no nation on earth has the religious diversity of the U.S.. Once again, thanks to the Constitution, America has more religious denominations being practiced within its borders than any other nation. The U.S. is one of, if not the only country in the world, where you can find a church, mosque, and synagogue on the same street. In the rest of the world, those three houses of worship could not exist next to one another.

In the U.S. you have all denominations of Christianity existing, while in the past other nations have gone to war with itself over the differences. The differences between Shia and Sunni Muslims have caused hundreds of thousands of deaths throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. Not here in the U.S.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. While the rest of the world looks to government as the grantor or rights, our government is the protector of natural rights. There is no greater flag to live under than the U.S., and the proof is in the lengths people go through to get here. So, as you watch the fireworks and enjoy BBQ this week, be thankful those 56 delegates dared to sign their own death warrants.

Printus LeBlanc is a contributing editor at Americans for Limited Government.